Glasgow Solicitors Blog from The GLP

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.

The number of buyers enquiring about property dipped marginally last month as economic uncertainty continues to hold the market back from any meaningful recovery, says the latest RICS UK Housing Market survey.

Four per cent more surveyors reported new buyer enquiries rose rather than fell during November (down from 7% in October).

The number of buyer enquiries is a good indicator of buyer demand in the market and chartered surveyors are confident that sales will pick up in the next three months.

Looking at house prices, 8% of respondents said they had gone up in November (none said this in October), 42% said prices had dropped (a change from 53% in October) and 51% said they had stayed the same (up slightly from 47% the previous month).

During November, surveyors were again asked about the factors which they felt were holding back activity in the housing market.

Most cited uncertainty in the economy and this rose to 89% of respondents (compared to 79% three months ago). Availability of mortgage finance came in at 70%, while fear of house price falls remained steady at 4%.