News / House price anomaly

28 October 2014 19:22

STATISTICS suggesting Shetland house prices are falling have been rubbished by local property experts.

On Tuesday Registers of Scotland reported that property prices in the isles had fallen by 8.6 per cent during the quarter from July to September, compared to the same period last year.

This compares to a Scotland wide increase of 5.2 per cent.

However property manager Robert Bell from Lerwick legal firm Dowle, Smith & Rutherford said the figures bore no relation to the reality.

“The problem is the Shetland market is so small that you can get anomalies from period to period, because more smaller properties may have been sold than bigger ones,” Bell said.

“This does not bear any relation whatsoever to the actual position. If the report said prices had moved eight per cent upwards I would have been more inclined to believe them.”

Registers of Scotland said that 97 properties changed hands in Shetland between July and September, compared with 96 last year, with the average price falling from £137,917 to £126,089.

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