Second home buyers boost Scots property market

The Highlands property market has witnessed an extremely active period in terms of property sales, boosted by second-home buyers.

That’s according to new quarterly figures released by Galbraith covering 1 April – 30 June.

Property sales handled by the team in Inverness increased almost twofold over this period in comparison to the previous quarter, with buyer confidence also remaining high. 18 per cent more viewings and 22 per cent more market appraisals were carried out.

Phiddy Robertson, who leads the Galbraith residential sales team in Inverness, said: ‘The property market in the Highlands is proving really strong at present. It continues to benefit from the double buyer market with demand from those moving to or within the area for work and the second home and tourism markets.’

78 per cent of buyers this quarter were Scottish and 22 per cent were from the rest of the UK. The average selling price for property sold by the firm’s Inverness office was £315,696.

Phiddy continued: ‘There is strong demand for well-sited coastal property and many of these benefit from the success of the NC500 which has brought improved services and greater employment opportunities. Buyers are looking for a lifstyle property either as a permanent residence, B&B or holiday home.

‘Properties are selling well with some competitive closing dates being set – one recent sale received an impressive 27 per cent over the asking price. We have an active database of buyers ready to move when the right property comes along so would encourage any homeowner considering selling to do so now when the market is extremely buoyant.’

Galbraith handles the sale of residential properties worth £51.7m on average per quarter across Scotland as a whole.

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