Scottish property values to remain 'steady'

A balance between supply and demand in the Scottish housing market will see property values remain "steady" in the coming months.

This is the view of legal firm Russel + Aitken, which said the market has recently been boosted by "more plentiful mortgage lending".

Dianne Paterson, property partner at Russel + Aitken, said: "Whilst prices are expected to remain fairly steady over the coming year, the markets at present are experiencing a shortage of good quality stock. If this continues, demand will outweigh supply and prices may then increase.

"However, it is likely that more stock will gradually come on to the markets to meet this growing demand, keeping prices steady in the months ahead."

The comment follows the publication of a recent Lloyds TSB Scotland report, which revealed that the average price of a Scottish property had increased to £160,074 in the three months to January 2010.

This represented a national rise of 5.9 per cent, which was outperformed by Dundee and Edinburgh, with the two areas reporting rises of 16.3 per cent and 11.4 per cent respectively.

Get a buy-to-let insurance quote today from Simple Landlords Insurance.