Glasgow Solicitors Blog from The GLP

Positive signals have emerged for the housing market in the first quarter of 2012 with a rise in the number of British homeowners who expect house prices to climb over the next six months.

According to the latest Zoopla.co.uk Housing Market Sentiment Survey, two out of three (67%) British homeowners are confident of house prices rising by the Autumn. This is the highest proportion of homeowners predicting property price growth since the first half of 2010 and in stark contrast to sentiment at the end of 2011 when only 55% of owners were predicting prices to climb.

In addition to the rise in overall confidence, homeowners are also more bullish now about how much they expect average house prices to rise over the next six months. At the end of 2011, owners expected prices in their local area to increase 2.2% on average. Over the last quarter this has risen to 3.9% - again, the highest price growth expectation in almost two years.

There has also been an improvement in sentiment towards mortgage financing with an increase in the number of property owners reporting that it is now easier to secure a mortgage than it was at the end of 2011. 17% of respondents believe mortgage availability has improved, up from 11% last quarter.

Potential buyers continued to test the market during March as the stamp duty holiday finally came to an end, says the latest RICS UK Housing Market Survey.

Less than 0.5% of homes in Britain will be affected by the increase in the stamp duty rate for multi-million pound homes announced in the recent budget, according to research by Lloyds TSB.

Both house purchase and remortgage lending fell in January, according to new data released from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

With 26 towns in the UK – including Perth and Dumfries - applying for city status as part of this year's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Bank of Scotland has looked back at how house prices in cities have performed over the past 25 years.

Up to 6,000 first-time buyers and others aspiring to purchase a new build home are set to receive a boost, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment Alex Neil has revealed.

The Bank of Scotland has launched its annual ‘Second Stepper’ report which tracks the ongoing plight of first time sellers amid a challenging housing market in Scotland. The report reveals that home affordability for Second Steppers has become much less favourable and declining house prices have led to equity shortfalls for many.

Rochford in Essex and South Lakeland are the only two local authority districts in the UK where house prices are currently higher than they were in 2007, according to the latest research from Bank of Scotland. Aberdeenshire is the only local authority district in Scotland in the UK top 20, however with a 7% fall in average prices during 2007-2011.

The number of first-time buyers, who are currently exempt from paying stamp duty on properties up to £250.000, increased in December, according to data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. There were 18,700 loans advanced, worth £2.3 billion, up 7% by volume and 10% by value, from November.

Nearly three in ten of those living in Scotland think that house prices will rise rather than fall in 2012, according to the latest Bank of Scotland Housing Market Confidence tracker. Around 28% of those questioned forecast that house prices across Scotland will increase over the next twelve months, more than the 24% that predict a price decline over the same period.

The number of houses sold in Scotland increased during the last quarter of 2011, but there was a fall in the number of flats sold. The average price for domestic properties dropped by 0.5% according to official statistics released by Registers of Scotland.

The National Association of Estate Agents has issued a reminder that exemption from Stamp Duty Land Tax for first time buyers is due to come to an end on Saturday 24th March 2012.

Mortgage payments for a new borrower in Scotland during the second half of 2011 were at their lowest as a proportion of disposable earnings for nine years, according to new Bank of Scotland research.

Falkirk experienced the biggest rise in house prices in Scotland – and the second biggest gain across the UK – in 2011, according to new research by Bank of Scotland. Based on Bank of Scotland's own house price data, the average selling price in Falkirk was 12% higher than in the previous year, increasing from £113,422 in 2010 to £126,548 in 2011.

The number of homes going on the market for sale in Scotland rose slightly in November despite the lead up to Christmas usually being a quiet time for the housing market.

According to the latest Scottish House Price Monitor from Lloyds TSB Scotland, in the three months ending October 2011, the quarterly price index for the average domestic property in Scotland rose by 1.7% – the first quarterly rise following three consecutive quarterly falls. However, on an annual, underlying basis, Scottish house prices have fallen by 2.9%.

Loans for both house purchase and remortgage fell slightly in September, according to new data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Recent statistics published by Registers of Scotland have shown that the average price of a residential property in Scotland decreased by 0.2% during the second quarter (July to September) of the financial year 2011/12 compared with the same period the previous year. The average price of a residential property for this quarter was £163,091.

Scottish sellers returned to the housing market in September, hoping for an autumn sale says the latest RICS UK Housing Market survey.

House prices in Scottish cities have, on average, doubled since 2001, according to Bank of Scotland research. Four of the ten UK cities that recorded the highest rises in house prices over the last ten years are in Scotland - Inverness (148%), Aberdeen (116%), Dundee (106%) and Edinburgh (93%).