HOUSE prices in Scotland were driven up in the days before the General Election, according to a new report from chartered surveyors.
The latest Residential Market Survey from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors found one-third more of its members reported rising house prices in transactions they covered than at the same time last year.
At the same time, one in 10 chartered surveyors reported a rise in the number of properties coming onto the market, the only increase recorded out of any region of the UK.
However, the number of buyers making inquiries has dropped with some surveyors suggesting that these trends may have in part been a result of uncertainty ahead of the election.
The report found that more than half of surveyors in Scotland expect prices to continue to rise, while rents are also expected to increase due to high growth in tenant demand.
Sarah Speirs, director of RICS Scotland, said: "There have been indications of more moderate price gains in Scotland in recent months, but activity indicators remain positive and unlike across the rest of the UK, Scotland continues to see moderate growth in supply, which is being met by a steadily increasing rise in demand.
"Anecdotally, the uncertainty created by the General Election, has impacted market activity and it remains early days to assess what impact the new Land Building and Transaction Tax (LBTT) is having on property prices in different parts of the country, and at different price bands."
Tom Murray, of Galloway and Ayrshire Properties, added: "Property values have largely stabilised and this has helped restore buyer confidence. While there is no evidence of growth, there is certainly a much steadier market, with a rising flow of instructions and applicant enquiries."
The report follows recent figures from Registers of Scotland (RoS) which showed that house prices have hit a record high with more than 10 per cent added onto the value of the average home.
The most up-to-date RoS data recorded a rise of 13.3 per cent between January to March, pushing the average price of property to £173,830, the highest figure recorded for any quarter since 2003.
The increase has been put down to a rise in sales at the top end of the market as people sought to avoid the implementation of LBTT, which replaced stamp duty on April 1.
All local authorities in Scotland showed a rise in average property prices, with the highest found in East Lothian, up 28.6 per cent on the same period in the previous year to an average of £248,902.
The average price in Glasgow was said to be £134,466, and increase of almost 8 per cent on the year before. West Dunbartonshire showed the largest jump in the number of sales, with an increase of 10.6 per cent, while The biggest fall was in Midlothian, which dropped 28.1 per cent to 233 residential house sales.
The total value of sales across Scotland registered in the quarter increased by 8.0 per cent to just under £2.95 billion compared to the previous year. This represents the highest value of sales for this quarter since 2007/08.
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