2022 Highland Property Review

The start of 2022 saw a continuation of high demand for property in the Highlands, with many properties selling above the asking price and ‘New on the Market’ properties moving to ‘Under Offer’ very quickly. The intense competition in the buyers’ market also impacted the volume of properties coming onto the market, as some sellers were hesitant to market their homes in case they achieved a quick sale but then couldn’t find somewhere suitable to purchase. This meant that we saw new properties coming to the market at a slower rate compared to previous years, which then further impacted the volume of properties available at any one time.

Moving into the second half of the year, some unexpected economic decisions created big shifts in the property market. Liz Truss’s budget, interest rates, inflation and energy costs had a big impact on household spending decisions, particularly as we were also seeing mortgage lending rates higher than we had seen in more than 10 years.

HSPC Mortgage Consultant, Norman Fell adds, “Mortgage rates at the beginning of 2022 were extremely competitive but there were steep increases in the latter part of 2022. A main factor for this was the September mini budget, which the financial markets did not view in a positive light. Since the autumn statement, lenders have been reducing rates from the higher levels, but rates are still much higher than the start of 2022. Due to the poor economic climate, mortgage lending could be lower than in 2022, which may see lenders competing for business through the rates they offer. There is no way of predicting how things will develop this year, but it will be interesting to view fixed rates and tracker deals as this year moves forward. At HSPC Mortgage Services we are constantly in touch with our existing clients that have rates expiring this year to plan ahead. It is imperative to seek professional advice and discuss in detail the options available to you due to the current level of interest rates.”

Towards the end of 2022, we started to see a shift in the market as moving home became less of a priority than in 2021. Manager of HSPC, Bernadette Walker, comments - “The two pandemic years we’ve recently gone through saw inflated demand for property, with the number of buyers outstripping sellers. With property stock low, this theme still dominated 2022 creating a Catch-22 situation for buyers and sellers.

The third quarter of 2022 saw the number of active properties increase by 10% compared to the second quarter, and we saw stock volumes steadily increase throughout the rest of the year.  This tells a story that the speed at which property was being sold was starting to shift back towards a normal level.”

Bernadette continues - “Looking ahead to 2023, we may see the market move back towards pre pandemic levels, certainly in terms of demand, which in turn could affect house prices. Any stabilising of the market will probably be due to cost of living factors and lending interest rates, however the backlog of people still looking for their ideal property may pave the way for another busy year.”

HSPC Key Trends 2022

• The average house price for the Highlands in 2022 was £200,943 compared to £203,545 in 2021; a 1% decrease.
• December was the busiest month for properties sold for 2022, in comparison to March in 2021.
• The busiest month for properties coming onto the market in 2022 was June which was the same trend as for 2021.
• April to June was our busiest quarter for properties coming on to the market, but our most active quarter for properties sold was from July to September.
• Flats were the largest volume of property type sold in 2022 followed by detached bungalows and detached villas. The largest volume of property type sold in 2021 was the detached bungalow.
• The average selling price of a flat in the Highlands was £131,816.
• Flats were also the highest in number of property type coming on to the market, again followed by detached bungalows and detached villas, which had also been the case in 2021.
• Our highest-priced property type was the detached villa at an average of £314,603, a 1% increase compared to last year.
• On average, properties being sold through HSPC sold for 6% over the asking price in 2022.
• April to June saw our busiest quarter for viewing requests and enquiries, with a 16% increase on the previous quarter.We also saw a 13% increase in enquires in comparison to 2021.
• The number of property email alerts increased by 17% compared to 2021.
• November was our most successful month for ‘sold price’ versus ‘asking price’ with an average of 7.5% achieved over asking price.

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