The Scottish housing market has held up relatively well in the face of economic headwinds, with year-on-year house prices up by 3.8% during the first quarter this year.
However, Rettie & Co analysis of data from the Registers of Scotland also showed that the overall number of transactions was down by 11%.
Overall turnover on the value of property sold across Scotland dropped to £4.1bn - from £4.4bn during the first quarter of 2022 - with total number of transactions down to 19,124 - from 21,496 year-on-year.
In the first three months of this year, the average price of a residential property in Scotland was £213,850 - versus £205,951 during the first quarter last year.
Transactions increased in some local authority areas, including East Lothian, Midlothian and East Dunbartonshire, while average prices also climbed in certain areas, like Argyll & Bute and Midlothian.
Average prices were virtually unchanged in Glasgow - up 0.2% to £191,230 - while Edinburgh was marginally up - a 1.6% increase to £322,449.
John Boyle, director of research at Rettie & Co, said: “Towards the end of last year, the background was very much dominated by narratives around rising interest and mortgage rates, double-digit inflation and an impending recession.
“Clearly, the housing market has not remained unscathed, but forecasts of ‘doom and gloom’ have proven to be over exaggerated on the basis of the latest quarterly numbers.
“Accordingly, we have revised our own forecasts to reflect better than expected Q1 figures,“ he continued. “As ever, however, events shape markets, so we remain vigilant if cautiously optimistic for the full year.”
On transaction levels and house prices looking forward, Boyle added: “We see transactions down about 15% in 2023 as a whole given current economic conditions before recovering in the subsequent 12 to 24 months, before pushing up again in 2025/2026 to above 2022 levels.
“And when it comes to prices, it is still likely that we will see average price falls over the course of the year, but these will be muted, with a return to price growth trends growth in 2025.”
Edinburgh-headquartered property firm Rettie & Co was founded in 1993 and now has 180 staff across 11 offices, in Edinburgh, Glasgow city, Glasgow west end, Bearsden, Shawlands, Newton Mearns, St Andrews, Melrose, Berwick, Newcastle and London.
Don't miss the latest headlines with our twice-daily newsletter - sign up here for free.
