The number of residential transactions across Scotland increased by 4% last year (from 93,528 in 2014 to 97,701 in 2015). This compares to 11% growth the year before. Tougher mortgage lending conditions during the first half of 2015 impacted the recovery of Scotland’s housing market. Yet the market adjusted during the second half of 2015 due to a recovery in mortgage lending for house purchases across Scotland, which increased by 9% from 59,500 in 2014 to 64,800 in 2015.
The market has been further supported by Government incentives, such as the Help to Buy Mortgage Guarantee and new build schemes, which made up 8% of all residential activity in Scotland between October 2013 and September 2015. The recently announced extension of Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme to 2019 is expected to further support Scotland’s new home sales.
On a Local Authority level, East Renfrewshire witnessed the strongest annual growth in the number of transactions during 2015 at 13%, boosted by the good schools effect. Other star performers include Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian, where annual transactional growth in 2015 was higher than Scotland overall (Figure 6).
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