Homeowners in Tayside are finally starting to accept realistic house prices, according to one property expert.
Peter Ryder, manager of Tayside Solicitors Property Centre (TSPC) in Dundee, said sellers fed up waiting for the market to match the house prices of 2007 are now settling for offers well below their expectations.
”There tends to be a more realistic attitude towards what offers people are expecting now,” he said.
”The first evidence we had of this was back in the last quarter of last year. For that period there was an increase of sales of at least 17% year on year from the last quarter in 2010. Up until that point sales had been fairly static.
”That was continued in the first quarter of this year with 102 extra sales up on the first quarter of last year.”
He said there is a feeling that a lot of people have been holding off in the last few years but now realise that this is the new market.
”I think a lot of people thought the recession was going to last a couple of years but now see that we’re in this for the medium to long haul,” he said.
Mr Ryder said the major contributing factor to the increase in sales was sellers finally taking the advice of their solicitors and realising they were not going to get the 2007 pre-recession prices.
Owners who have been stuck waiting to move while they waited for the market to recover have now bitten the bullet and decided to move, whatever the loss.
This price-slashing is happening across the board with even the very wealthy having to curb their asking prices.
Earlier this month celebrity chef Nigella Lawson sold her Belgravia apartment, but only after she reduced the asking price by £11 million.
The owners of Myres Castle in Auchtermuchty have reportedly had to reduce their asking price by £1 million to £2.5 million.
However, Mr Ryder said though sellers may be losing out they could still bag a bargain on their new home after their original offer fell through.
”When you look at the actual offers people are accepting they are all in and around the home report valuation,” he said.
”There’s obviously the odd exception if there’s two or three people interested in the property.
”If people are selling and then buying it’s kind of swings and roundabouts. They might get £20,000 less than they would have in 2007 but if they are buying they might get their new home for £20,000 less.
”The difficulty is if you are selling and not buying. It’s a hard one to get your head around if your neighbour in 2007 sold for £30,000 more than you’re getting now.”
He said that the inability of first-time buyers to get on the property ladder had actually led to an increase in TSPC’s average property price.
He said: ”That’s due to the fact that there’s more being sold in the £150,000-£200,000 price bracket.
”Your first-time buyer flats at £50,000-£100,000 hasn’t increased at all, it’s fairly static. The deposits are killing the first time buyer.”
New developments across Dundee and Angus though are now helping to bolster the market for new housing.
Mr Ryder said the work being done on the Dundee Waterfront and the announcement that pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline is to invest £50 million in Montrose has encouraged more new builds.
He said: ”I honestly think the positive news coming out of Dundee and Angus with the Waterfront and GlaxoSmithKline means there’s a bit more optimism and the prospect of new jobs.
”The new registrations new properties coming onto the market has increased in the first quarter which is encouraging as people are more optimistic than they were.”
Photo by David Cheskin/PA Wire