Properties across Scotland continue to sell above their asking price, according to the latest quarterly house price report by s1homes.com. During Q4 2018, properties sold for an average of 8.5% above asking price, which means that sellers achieved an average of £14,000 more than they initially expected. This is a slight drop of £1,500 compared to the previous quarter. Additionally, the ‘reality gap’, which is the difference between what sellers hope to sell for and the price they achieve, remains wide. This is due to unrealistic asking prices among sellers of detached houses, s1homes says. In fact, detached properties are selling almost 7% below the average price. On average, buyers are securing sales for £19,000 less than the initial asking price – the same value as in Q3 2018. However, sellers of flats, terraced houses and semi-detached houses across Scotland are achieving above the asking price, with flats typically selling for £31,000 more, while terraced houses on average sell for £23,000 more and semi-detached houses for £4,000 more. Esther Ballesteros, brand manager of s1homes, said the Q4 analysis shows that sellers of most property types are being more realistic and therefore achieving or exceeding their asking prices. “However, detached properties are still being priced at unrealistic levels leading to a significant reality gap, reflecting how the higher end of the market is particularly entrenched with almost no significant changes in the reality gap over the past 12 months,” she added. Regionally, homes in Glasgow saw a drop in average selling price of more than £6,000, resulting in properties selling at £32,000 above their asking price. This is a drop of almost £8,000 from the previous quarter. Elsewhere, Edinburgh experienced the highest selling prices across Scotland. Properties in Q4 sold on average for £32,000 more than their asking price – up from £28,000 last quarter. Average selling prices in regions like Fife and North Lanarkshire saw no significant changes in the last quarter, with properties being sold for around £9,000 and £11,000 above their asking price respectively. On the other hand, buyers looking to purchase a house in East Renfrewshire and West Lothian can buy a property for under the asking price by around £15,000 and £11,000 less, respectively. Argyll & Bute, South Lanarkshire and Falkirk also provide buyers with a great deal, with properties selling for £1,000 or less than their average asking price. The quarterly report compares the asking prices of over 20,000 properties for sale on s1homes with the actual prices achieved as recorded by the official government agency, Registers of Scotland, and provides trends for the various property markets throughout Scotland. To view the full report, which includes regional breakdowns, visit the Scottish House Price Report page here.
Properties in Scotland sold for an average of almost 7% above asking price in Q4 2018, according to s1homes.com. Sellers typically received around £14,000 ($18,300) above the listed price, a £1,500 MoM decrease. Scottish flats, terraced houses and semi-detached houses averaged sales above asking price of £31,000, £23,000, and £4,000 respectively. However, detached properties were sold for £19,000 below initial asking price on average, due to unrealistic expectations from sellers. Edinburgh, Fife and North Lanarkshire achieved sales higher than asking price, while East Renfrewshire and West Lothian saw prices below initial asking.