LOW mortgage rates and a high demand for homes may have helped the number of people moving house in Scotland to reach its highest level in almost a decade, according to a Bank of Scotland study.
The number of homemovers, current homeowners moving house, rose by eight per cent to 25,500 in the past year, the bank said in its Homemover Review.
It said the rise could be a result of continued low mortgage rates and a high demand for homes, which allowed homeowners to take their next step on the property ladder.
Since hitting a market low of 20,100 in 2009, the number of movers in Scotland has grown by 27 per cent (5400), but the current number is still just under half the pre-financial crisis level of 49,500 in 2007.
Graham Blair, Bank of Scotland’s mortgage director, said: “The number of homemovers is at a nine-year high but these current figures are still well below levels seen in 2008.
“Continued low mortgage rates, rising house prices and high employment levels no doubt have had a positive impact in recent times.
“The Scottish housing market hasn’t quite seen the same increases in average house prices and deposits seen across the rest of the UK.
“However, an increase of 23 per cent in both house prices and deposits for homemovers in the last five years has still had a huge impact on those looking to move home.”
Over the past five years, the bank said the average price paid by homemovers has grown by 23 per cent from £167,243 in 2012, to £205,989 in 2017.
In percentage terms, this is the lowest increase in the UK. Unsurprisingly, London has seen the biggest increase of 59 per cent over the last five years with average house prices jumping from £357,114 to £586,816.
Scottish homemovers put down an average deposit of £64,486 last year, a 23 per cent rise from £52,307 five years ago.
This is also the lowest increase in percentage terms across the UK. Londoners require the largest deposit of £196,535 towards the purchase of their next home.
The bank could not say whether the introduction of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), which replaced Stamp Duty in Scotland from April 2015, had affected the market.
It was promoted as a progressive tax — more proportionate to the actual price of the property.
The percentage rate for each band in is applied only to the part of the price over the relevant threshold and up to the next threshold.
LBTT is not paid on properties up to £145,000 and rises on a sliding scale from two per cent on properties between £145,000-£250,000 up to 12 per cent for properties costing more than £750,000.
Earlier this month, estate agent Rettie’s said the market in Scotland’s house sales above £325,000 had experienced a “significant improvement”. The figure is close to the point where the new LBTT made buying a home more expensive than it had been under stamp duty.
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