Scottish house prices rose steadily in March because of a lack of new homes coming up for sale to meet increasing demand.
According to The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), house sales in Scotland climbed up.
The RICS UK Residential Market Survey revealed that in March 21% more surveyors reported a rise in house prices across Scotland.
In addition, surveyors forecast house prices in Scotland to rise over next quarter due to a shortage of homes on the market. However, price gains over the next three months are expected to be much more moderate.
Scottish house prices rose steadily in March.
RICS Scotland director Sarah Speirs said:
“The initial boost given to the housing market by the Help to Buy scheme has begun to dissipate and activity levels have slipped back.
“The new Land and Building Transaction Tax was implemented at the beginning of April and we will monitor the potential impact this has had on all market levels.
“There have been indications of price increases in recent months, as the supply of stock to the market continue to fall.
“Anecdotal evidence does suggest that election uncertainty and the impact of the drop in oil prices may be having some impact on the market, but underlying the trends visible in the latest survey indicates a very real housing crisis which will urgently need to be addressed by the next UK government.”
Housing market is picking up again in the UK
A cooling of the housing market appears to be ending. Last month the Bank of England released data revealing that British mortgage approvals hit a six-month high in February.
Housing has become one of the biggest issues to be talked about leading up to the UK general election.
