RESEARCH by property firm Rettie & Co has revealed a new annual high of £1m plus house sales in Scotland, with 506 house sales in the £1 million plus range in 2023 (2022: 504).
The market remains dominated by Edinburgh, which accounts for 50 per cent of overall sales. However, the West has been catching up, with Glasgow and the rest of the West accounting for 134 £1 million plus sales last year, representing 26 per cent of all sales and up by 39 sales on the previous year.
Simon Rettie, Managing Director, Rettie & Co said: “Most of the growth in the £1 million plus market has been in Glasgow and the West, while sales in Edinburgh have fallen back by nearly 20 per cent. This has been due to a combination of higher interest rates and buyer confidence, particularly in the super-prime market which we classify as houses over £2 million. St Andrews and East Lothian continue to outperform the market with an increasing number of sales over £1m. For 2024, we forecast a gradual improvement in both buyer confidence and the rate of prime sales aligned with a drop in interest rates.”
Other key finding of Rettie’s £1m+ report are:
- The EH3 postcode in Edinburgh (which includes the New Town and West End) is the new number one location for £1m+ sales in Scotland, with 46 sales in 2023, with last year’s top district, EH10 (which includes Morningside) dropping to second spot.
- The £1m+ market in Scotland is concentrated, with 5 Edinburgh postcodes accounting for nearly 40% of all sales.
- From fewer than 30 £1m+ sales in 2017, prime property sales in Glasgow and the rest of the West of Scotland have surged to 134 in 2023.
- Continued growth in St Andrews, with the KY16 postcode continuing to be a strong performer as a £1m+ destination, with 21 sales in 2023.
- Top-10 postcodes in Scotland: EH3, EH10, EH9, EH4, EH12, KY16, G12, EH13, EH39, G77, G46, G61.
Dr John Boyle, Director of Strategy and Research at Rettie, said: “For the Scottish housing market as a whole, 2023 was a difficult year. However, the overall outcome was not as bad as some had initially feared at the end of 2022. In fact, the average house price was actually up 0.8 per cent for 2023, although market transactions were down nearly 10%. What is clear, is that the prime £1 million plus market withstood the market headwinds better than the overall market.”
