With the bulk of the bird and wildfowl shooting season behind us, as skiers start to think about sand and sun, and as those lucky enough to winter in warmer and brighter climes return to the UK, it’s a good point to take stock of what 2024 has brought us, while looking forward to Q2 in the middle-to-prime Scotland property market.
In other, recent Robb Residential blogs we foresaw
- a still-robust marketplace dominated by a continuing shortfall of stock to meet demand
- coupled with an ongoing buyer desire for unique, attractive homes and properties.
Add to these the downward trend in inflation and a rosier outlook for interest rates and it all translates into a very busy Q1 for us in Glasgow and beyond, where listings continue to go live and – often – are snapped up with offers materially above the Home Report valuation.
It would be fair to say – as once again we continue to hire and expand our team – the extent of buying and selling activity has taken even us by surprise, albeit the fundamentals of the market remain aligned with expectations.
Buyer Demand
Properties in the middle-to-prime space continue to be greatly sought after as buyers seek a new start, life change, or change of pace, whether it be a move to some beautiful west of Scotland suburb or out into the countryside with open expanses of greenery and the silvery waters and fresh air of the coast.
Supply Gap
Demand for lovely, singular homes continues to defeat supply, so if you want to sell, now is the time to start thinking about it, and the time to act is soon. And those looking for homes in this marketplace continue to be less sensitive to interest rate changes and wider squeezes on day-to-day finances.
Inflation
The inflationary outlook is much more positive than at any time in the last two years, with the February measurement coming in at 3.4% versus the 4% of the first two months 2024.
Mortgage Rate Outlook
At the time of writing, Capital Economics, in London’s Evening Standard, are boldly predicting a continued fall in inflation such that the UK meets its 2% target before both the Eurozone and the US, signalling a likely reduction in mortgage rates. You can read the Evening Standard article here
Looking more widely, the residential property market has a much more positive outlook – although we had envisaged this, the spectre of doubt is much less ominous before, and some traders in the City (of London) are now betting on a Bank of England rate reduction at the next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
The Professional, Tailored Approach Pays Dividends
With the cost-of-living challenges in play, and wars in Gaza and Ukraine ongoing, the global economic horizon is still patchy. This is why it remains important to have a quality estate agent onside, with a team to drive out the best price, great overall offering to the marketplace, and to work tirelessly to achieve the agreed targets.
Many properties will still sell themselves, but not for the best price in a timescale to suit all parties.
You can see all our properties for sale, and how we market them in a professional, tailored manner at any and all of the links below:
Robb Residential on OnTheMarket
In addition to our public listings, we continue to have a pool of keen private buyers and sellers from the UK and beyond looking for various properties across a range of towns, cities, areas and regions.
Robb Residential are always available for a confidential chat, or pop in to our office for a coffee and a discussion about what you hope to achieve with any sale or purchase. Or just get your details on our database so we can reach out when the time feels right, we’re here to assist.
Robb Residential are an Estate Agent based in Glasgow who deal in a range of unique and beautiful properties in the middle-to-prime market in Scotland. For more information, please contact us, email or call on 0141 225 3880.
Note: all statistics, percentages and references are correct at the time of writing.
