Edinburgh set to lead UK housing market higher
Edinburgh will be the unlikely setting for the U.K.'s first property sector year-on-year increase when figures are announced later this week. The average home in Edinburgh now cost in the region of £212,000 which is a surprise 6% increase compared to this time last year. At a time when the Scottish economy is under real pressure, from a number of avenues, it seems that property in Scotland is still very much sought after, particularly in areas such as Edinburgh.
The £212,000 average price of a property in Edinburgh compares favourably to the figure of £200,000 in August 2008 and £198,000 at the turn of 2009. However, property prices in the capital have fallen from £240,000 at their 2007 peak which is around 12% off the top. It is also interesting to see there has been significant increase in property transactions in Scotland which have risen by 50% over the last few months. So have we now reached the bottom of the UK property market?
Despite the fact that these figures from Edinburgh in particular are very encouraging, there are still some analysts who believe that UK property prices will fall back in 2010 after a buoyant end to 2009. Whether this particular view will be played out remains to be seen but there is still uncertainty in some areas of the market.
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