Glasgow Solicitors Blog from The GLP

People living in Scotland are becoming increasingly confident in the outlook for the housing market, according to the latest Bank of Scotland Housing Market Confidence tracker. One in three (33%) respondents predict that house prices will increase over the next year, higher than the proportion that believe house prices will fall (23%).

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.

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.

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.

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.