Annual house price growth in Scotland is set to outperform England’s next year according to the latest Zoopla House Price Index.
House prices are set to rise across Scotland by 1.75 per cent, in comparison to a predicted 1% across England in 2021.
This is because of pent-up demand from the housing market’s closure due to the coronavirus crisis, will still be lingering next year as activity resumed north of the border after England’s estate agents opened their doors.
Richard Donnell, Director of Research & Insight at Zoopla, said: “It has been a roller coaster year for the housing market which is ending on a strong note with demand and sales agreed still more than 30% higher than this time last year.
"House price growth has hit a three-year high and is set to increase further in the short term."
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He added: “The high volume of sales agreed this autumn will spill over as completed sales in 2021 and this will support the overall number of sales completed in 2021 at 1.1 million.
"It has been a remarkable turnaround and completed sales look set to fall just 6% short of last year despite a two-month closure of the market in England.
“There are some challenges ahead as the country battles the impacts of the pandemic on the economy and day to day life.
"The impact on the housing market is less than in previous downturns as sales volumes have already fallen in recent years and affordability levels are far from over-stretched.
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"We expect housing demand to slow further over 2021 and this will ease the upward pressure on prices which we expect to be 1% higher by December 2021. Lower sales volumes over the second half of 2021 and a growing scarcity of supply will offset weaker demand and support headline pricing levels.”
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