STRONG FINAL QUARTER AS SALES NUDGE £300 MILLION

18/01/2012

THE eagerly awaited Tayside Solicitors Property Centre annual statistics reveal that homes with a value of nearly £300 million changed hands over the course of 2011.

The average price of properties sold came in at more than £137,000.

And solicitors enjoying access to the Whitehall Crescent Centre and its competitively priced marketing packages ensured that 2,180 sales were confirmed over the 12 months going under the microscope.

Peter Ryder, manager of the TSPC, pointed out that member firms accessing the long-established city centre flagship had been selling, on average, 42 properties each week of 2011.

He said: “The average house price has remained pretty much on par with the previous year, with Dundee, Angus and north-east Fife performing much better than many other parts of the country. Moving forward, this is very reassuring for local buyers and sellers alike.

“The final quarter of the year was very promising, with nearly 600 properties being sold in the countdown to the New Year. There’s no doubt that the market in Tayside is showing a promising degree of movement and residential insertions in the weekly Property Guide are up 2.8% compared with this time last year.

“The final quarter turnover in properties across different sectors of the market is unusual, given that so much focus falls on Christmas and all its distractions, but we saw sales leap by 16% year on year.

“Houses are selling, that much is clear from our statistical data, but we would caution that sellers have to adopt a realistic approach to their asking prices. Their solicitor is well placed to provide an insight to market conditions

“While no one here has a crystal ball, looking at the year ahead we anticipate that the picture will not change much from 2011,” said Peter.

“Hopefully we will see the banks and the government putting their heads together to come up with initiatives which will make mortgage access easier for first-time buyers. That would be perfect to generate more activity at the lower end of the market across the country.”

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