Thursday, June 12th, 2008
The release of figures from the Government confirms the resilience of the Scottish house market. The Communities and Local Government department have issued its house price index for the year to April 2008 and they show annual house price growth at 7.7% in Scotland to be the highest for any region in the UK. However this does also show a price growth rate slower for Scotland than in the precious year which had been 9.3%. Within the UK figures as a whole there is shown to be a drop in the prices of flats of 0.3 per cent.
John Renton senior valuer at Caesar and Howie confirmed the figures reflected local experience in the Central belt. I think in most of Central Scotland prices are more affordable in terms of their relationship with incomes than in other parts of the UK. That’s what keeps the Scottish market from big ups and downs in my view. On the other hand continued John “I think the data is a little out of date and I think prices are pretty static at the moment. Sellers need to price sensibly and be patient to get their houses away”.
Tags: housing market
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Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
Scotland’s housing market is cooling like elsewhere in Britain, but with the nation’s most affordable mortgages experts think it may escape the worst of the property downturn as it did in the 1990s.
While the average house price in Britain fell 1 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the previous three months, Scottish house prices registered a 0.2 percent rise, according to the Halifax house price index.
“Scotland’s housing market is in the strongest position in the UK and will be more resilient, mainly because of affordability,” said Fionnuala Earley, chief economist at the Nationwide building society.
Professor Steve Wilcox, author of the UK Housing Review, said the profile of the Scottish economy and labour market in the 1990s differed substantially from the rest of Britain. This shielded it from the worst of the housing crash that began in the late 1980s and hit the Southeast the hardest.
But now, Wilcox said, the two economies and the housing markets were more in tune than before.
“The dynamics for Scotland are very much the same as in the rest of the UK: sharp rises in house prices and mortgage costs, as well as an increase in private renting,” Wilcox said.
Nevertheless, he said there were still factors that could cushion the downturn.
One is the fact that house prices in Scotland have not risen as steeply as in other parts of Britain. Over the last decade, house prices in Scotland have risen 146 percent, versus a 191 percent rise in Greater London, according to the Halifax house price index.
(more…)
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Monday, June 2nd, 2008
The momentous decision taken by the Law Society of Scotland to allow new business models for legal firms has been warmly welcomed by Caesar and Howie. The changes which will probably take about three years to come into force will allow Law Firms to be owned or part owned by non -lawyers. At the moment only lawyers may own their firms and they cannot work as part of a wider company or partnership.
Some commentators have suggested that this change will cause the demise of the local “High Street” lawyer.
However David Borrowman – managing partner of Caesar and Howie sees things differently. “This I see as a great opportunity for our firm – not a threat. We have been expecting this decision for some time and we have been working to ensure we are ready to take the opportunities which it brings. We have excellent expertise in various areas of our work and we are sure if others wanted to work with us they would bring in their expertise to the mix. The bottom line is to ensure our clients enjoy the best service we can give them and if that means working in a different way with new techniques and in new structures we are very much up for that”
David continues “The Law Society will insist in their forthcoming work, that any new structures must contain safeguards to ensure no conflict of interest can arise and that lawyers must continue to put clients interests first. Provided that ethical framework remains think how firms law could be transformed for the better by the injection of new investment, new ideas, and modern marketing methods. The next few years will be challenging and interesting times for us all”
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