Data shows it continues to stabilise as supply pressures ease
The Scottish housing market is returning to pre-pandemic levels, following a year of emergency COVID-19 restrictions and insufficient supply, Landmark Information Group’s latest market data shows.
The property search information provider said its newly released Q1 Property Trends Report Scotland paints a positive picture for home-movers as supply pressures ease.
“As we analyse the data from the first quarter of 2022, it’s encouraging to see the beginnings of a calmer, and crucially, more consistent market as COVID-19 restrictions finally lift for the Scottish market,” Simon Brown, chief executive at Landmark, said.
While remaining COVID-19 restrictions have undoubtedly left their mark on the first few months of the year, Brown said that the overall view is of a more balanced market that is returning to pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
The increased consumer confidence and return to normality is reflected in the transaction pipeline, with completions exceeding 2019 levels by 11% in February as transactions for sales agreed in Q4 2021 concluded.
Market listings remained below 2019 rates for the same quarter but recovered well in March, ending just shy of March 2019 volumes at -3%.
Registered sales also peaked in February, recording 23% more compared to the same period in 2019, in line with completions.
Read more: Scotland house prices – new high revealed.
“Q1 is traditionally a quieter quarter, and this too is reflected in lower listings and corresponding Sold Subject to Missives volumes. As we enter Q2 and the last COVID restrictions lift, we will watch with interest for signs of increased confidence in the Scottish property market,” Brown said.
He noted that despite the hopeful signs, the broader factors – from the burgeoning cost-of-living crisis to geopolitical instability – are yet to fully play out.
“This makes it ever-more crucial that the industry is able to evolve and adapt to external shocks, to minimize the impact on home-movers,” Brown stressed.
The Landmark Property Trends Report Scotland is based on a monthly extraction of key data in 2019–2022 from systems operated by the group within its various business entities delivering services and solutions into the Scottish property market. The latest report used Landmark’s data to reflect on market activity during January, February, and March 2022.
