Despite being one of the easiest areas of Scotland to reach, the Scottish Borders has been described as ‘Britain’s best kept secret’.
This helps preserve the area’s peace and beauty for residents but means that prospective house hunters can often overlook the Borders.
Leading property consultancy Galbraith is reflecting on its recent quarterly report (quarter ending 31 December 2019) which indicates an active market in terms of sales completed by the firm’s Galashiels and Kelso offices, with positive signs that this trend will continue over the year ahead.
The firm is reporting a 37.5 per cent year-on-year increase in property sales completed by the Galashiels team and a 31 per cent year-on-year rise in sales completed by the Kelso office. The Kelso office has conducted twice as many viewings compared to the previous year, while the Galashiels office has undertaken 57 per cent more market appraisals over the same period.
Alex Inglis, head of residential for Galbraith in the Scottish Borders, said: ;The Borders offer something for everyone with great community spirit, history and traditions. The friendly rivalry between historic settlements, with great pride in each town’s Common Ridings and rugby team, is one of the reasons why this region has such great appeal.
;It is a fantastic place for family life, with highly regarded schools, whilst at the same time it enjoys excellent transport links to major cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Most home hunters are primarily interested in a property’s location and therefore the Borders’ countryside, with its picturesque towns and villages, scores high on this count.
‘The Borders has a great range of homes including impressive country houses, former manses, former mill owner’s houses, charming country cottages, modern family homes, affordable town/village houses and flats.
‘Its popular towns include Peebles, Selkirk, Hawick, Jedburgh, Kelso, Melrose, Duns and Galashiels – which was voted the top town in Scotland in a recent ‘Happy at Home’ survey. There really is a property and location to suit all lifestyles and budgets in the area and our positive sales figures for the end of the year set us in good stead for the year ahead.’
Covering about 1,800 square miles of Scotland, the Borders contain rolling hills, rich agricultural land, fast flowing rivers, picturesque towns and villages, stately homes and castles, open countryside, gentle valleys and the rugged Berwickshire coast. The region is bounded by hills to its north, west and south and the North Sea to its east.
The Scottish Borders is an excellent place to live if you enjoy the great outdoors with numerous sporting pursuits on your doorstep. It is Scotland’s leading cycling destination with numerous well signed cycle routes, off-road trails and world class mountain biking. The area is also renowned for its rugby links with competitive rugby games played out between the many Borders teams.
It is a tremendous walking area with most towns and villages having a selection of sign posted walks and an annual festival of walking is held in the region. Long distance walks in the area include the Southern Uplands Way, St Cuthberts Way and the Berwickshire Coastal Path.
Some of the best golf courses in Scotland are in the Borders including the Championship Roxburghe Golf Course near Kelso. The rugged Berwickshire coast has some fine beaches, rock pools, old fashioned bathing huts, sea water diving, surfing and kayaking on offer. The climate is also generally mild and tends to become drier the further east you are so what’s not to love about living in The Scottish Borders!
Galbraith handles the sale of residential properties worth £51.7m on average per quarter across Scotland as a whole.
To find out more about Galbraith visit www.galbraithgroup.com
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