'Reality gap' in Scots house prices

Scots selling their homes have been accepting prices about 9% below their asking prices, according to an analysis of market figures from this spring.

Website S1 Homes compared average asking prices with the officially-registered settlement prices.

It found that the "reality gap" was widest in more expensive properties.

The second quarter of the year saw a 3% rise in selling prices and nearly 2% higher asking prices, since the first quarter.

The statistics showed that those people selling flats and terraced houses were, on average, getting slightly more than they asked for.

Detached houses

Covering more than 10,000 flats on the market, the average asking price with S1 Homes was just below £112,000, and the average settlement price, according to Registers of Scotland, was £117,500.

The average terraced house, selling for £123,000, was £2,000 more than the average asking price.

But those selling semi-detached houses were having to accept less than they asked, and those in detached houses were typically having to accept 18% less than they asked.

That was a reality gap, on average, of nearly £50,000, on an average sale price of £225,000.

There were more than 7,000 detached houses advertised and included in the survey.

According to this analysis, the average house sale in Scotland, at £153,102, was £14,500 below the average asking price.