Aberdeen Solicitors’ Property Centre Limited (ASPC), in cooperation with the University of Aberdeen, Business School, Centre for Real Estate Research, has published statistics for the first quarter of 2019 relating to the housing market in the Granite City.

The report also found that house prices are down 6.1 per cent on last year and 3.5 per cent over the past five years.

John MacRae, chairman of the board of directors of ASPC, said: “While it is the case that the first quarter of each year (along with the last quarter) is generally less active the figures do indicate that we continue to face difficult times in our local area.

“There is one bright spot, however, in that there are signs of improvement taking place although the improvement is modest. The first quarter of 2019 followed the third and fourth quarters of 2018 by increasing volume of sales compared to the corresponding periods in the previous year. The first quarter of 2019, for example, showed an increase of 9.6 per cent over the first quarter of 2018.

“These are modest improvements, I acknowledge, given the background against which they must be set, but the fact that there have now been three successive quarters where the year on year figures for sales are showing an improvement does give some hope that we are slowly turning the corner.”

He added: “It is often the case that the first quarter indicates how the rest of the year will continue and on that basis it looks as if 2019 will continue to be difficult but with some improvement in sales. Anecdotally, colleagues are also reporting some small signs of improvement, with occasional closing dates being fixed.

“It is very much the case that, in the current market, a well presented property, marketed through a solicitor agent and with the owner being realistic as to expectations, will sell. It is a factor in our market that there are too many houses advertised for sale with unrealistic asking prices and Home Reports that are now well out of date.”