Is spring the best time to buy or sell your property?
Spring has well and truly sprung, and we at ASPC predict this will be accompanied by a spring in the property market.
It will come as no surprise that spring is one of the best times to put your property on the market: in winter, people are busy with Christmas so budgets are tighter, and the weather is bleak, while in summer many people are on holiday or having to look after children.
Spring is also best for sellers, as it is when gardens will come into bloom.
Last year, we saw 2,602 property sales in the April to June period (Q2), up 31.2% from Q1. Looking a little deeper, ASPC discovered that sales volume of flats increased by 21.2%, while sales volume of semi-detached houses increased by 32.1%, and the sales volume of detached houses increased by 42.5%. You can find out more about these figures in our 2014 Q2 report.
With spring being the time when many people are looking to buy, with the new financial year in front of them, it is also the best time to put your property for sale. As the pool of people looking for houses or flats grows, it increases the likelihood that your property will be snapped up quickly.
Good news as well is the fact that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) predicted in February that property prices will continue to rise over the next three months, with Scotland and Northern Ireland's housing markets continuing to outperform the rest of the UK in terms of price growth.
The research by RICS also found that 37 per cent of surveyors expect an increase in transactions across Scotland.
One reason that this increase in transactions may be expected this spring is due to the change from Stamp Duty to Land and Building Transaction Tax (LLBT) on April 1st. Properties valued at less than £340,000 will have less tax to pay under the LBTT system – as our blog post on the changing system pointed out – making it an ideal time for those looking to buy.
With a recent Bank of Scotland report warning that Scotland's largest cities need thousands of new family homes, in part because the number of downsizers is decreasing, this adds more fuel to the idea that this spring will be a buoyant time for Scotland’s property market and a great time to buy or sell a property, no matter what dwelling type.