Scottish property market in short-term bounce
The Scottish property market produced a very surprising scenario this week with news from the Council of Mortgage Lenders that mortgages agreements for first-time property buyers increased by 18% to 4,700 in the second quarter of 2010. The total of these mortgage arrangements was £419 million which was again a significant increase of 27% against the first quarter of 2010.
The situation for those looking to move property was even better with 8,000 loans taken out over the same period which was an increase of 36%. Overall there was a larger than expected increase in mortgage transactions rising from 9,800 to 12,700 which is a far greater increase in percentage terms than the UK as a whole. It would appear that mortgage lenders in Scotland are loosening the reins on mortgage liquidity with the average deposit for first-time buyers falling from 23% in the first quarter to 21% in the second quarter. While this percentage fall may look insignificant there is no doubt it has given hope to Scottish property buyers and Scottish investors in the short to medium term.
All eyes will be on the remaining six months of 2010 to see whether the Scottish property market will in fact outperform the UK as a whole and put to bed all of the doom and gloom predictions which many economists have suggested in relation to Scotland.
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