Glasgow Solicitors Blog from The GLP

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.

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.

The number of property sales worth at least a million pounds has risen to its highest level since the peak of the housing market in Scotland in 2008, according to new research by Bank of Scotland.

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

The average price of terraced homes in the UK has risen by more than any other type of property over the last ten years, according to new Halifax research.

The Scottish housing market remained subdued during August, as economic uncertainty and lack of mortgage finance deterred potential buyers, according to the latest RICS UK Housing Market survey.

Overall lending for house purchase rose by both volume and value in July compared to the previous month, according to data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The value increased from £6.9 billion to £7.3 billion and the volume from 47,800 to 48,800. Both were at their highest since last August, though lower than July 2010.

Recent figures show that more current sellers have reduced the asking price of their home than at any time in the last year. Two in five (38.6%) of all properties currently for sale in Britain have had their asking prices reduced at least once since coming onto the market, up from 37% three months ago, and well ahead of the 32% one year ago.

New figures released by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) have shown that in June the number of people selling their homes reached its highest level in over two years.

Scottish home buyers appeared to have taken an early holiday as demand for property dipped, according to the June 2011 RICS UK Housing Market survey.

Scottish home owners are improving their property, without spending a fortune, to give them the advantage in a buyers' market, says RICS Scotland.

The spring bounce which the Scottish housing market saw in April went flat in May, says RICS UK Housing Market Survey for May 2011.

More Britons expect house prices to rise rather than fall over the next twelve months, according to the Halifax Housing Market Confidence tracker.

Edinburgh has claimed six out of ten of the most expensive properties bought in Scotland over the last five years, according to figures released by Registers of Scotland.

The mortgage market in Scotland started 2011 in a similar position to the UK as a whole, according to data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders Scotland. House purchase lending was at its lowest for two years and remortgaging increased due to interest rate rise concerns.

Supply of property increased during April, as sellers returned to the test the Spring housing market, according to the latest RICS UK Housing Market survey.