A drop in house prices has not stopped a sudden rise in first-time buyers getting on Scotland’s property ladder.
Angus house sales are continuing to outperform those recorded last year, according to a Tayside property expert, despite house prices across the country falling.
Lindsay Darroch, partner and head of property at Blackadders, said he had seen excellent sales, despite the Nationwide Building Society reporting Scotland was one of only three areas in the UK to see house prices drop over the past year.
However Mr Darroch noted 9,600 more first-time buyers secured mortgages in the first four months of 2013 than in 2012.
He said: “I think this is a positive sign and points to further improvement in the housing market.
“I would caveat those figures by warning against complacency, as there is still a long way to go before we have a normal, free-flowing market.
“In relation to the Blackadders Property team, I can advise May was a record month for new houses coming on the market and sales continued to outperform last year and be well ahead of our targets for this year.”
At the weekend, Nationwide reported the average price of a Scottish home in the second quarter was £134,611 1.2% down on the same period last year.
In contrast, London prices were up by 5.2% year-on-year. In Scotland, Perthshire and Stirling was the best performing area, with prices up 5% on the previous year.
House prices in England are 5% lower than their 2007 peak, while they are 12% lower in Scotland, 13% lower in Wales and 53% lower in Northern Ireland.
Mr Darroch noted a rise in the number of people looking to downsize their homes, alongside a “surge of interest in properties in the £450,000 to £550,000 bracket” in the likes of Broughty Ferry.
“The people selling tend to be, in the vast majority of cases, older people who are now wishing to down-size the family home,” he said.