How long will the housing market boom last in Tayside and Fife?
The property house price boom in Tayside and Fife shows no signs of slowing down according to local property experts. Lindsay Darroch at Gilson Gray says hed never seen such strong activity in the market in the past 30 years. The housing market is in a frenzy at the moment  Ive never known anything like this, he says. Even the peak of the boom in 2007, early 2008, is surpassed by the frenzy going on in the market now. Were starting to see the property market almost eating itself, is probably the best description.  He notes that compared to two years ago there are 20% less properties on the market, yet the number of sales is 20% higher. He says: The number of buyers is the same, if not increasing, but the number of properties on the market is decreasing. That is one of the things driving the price increase.  A report from Nationwide shows that annual house prises in Scotland have grown 7.1% in June. Were not building enough houses  There are no indicators to suggest that the housing market will slow down, says Jim Parker from Fife Properties. He is worried that he will run out of houses to sell if the property market boom continues. Mr Parker says: Were not building enough houses across Scotland, let alone Fife, to keep up with demand. You cant tell people to stop growing, living longer and having children, and this will put even more pressure on the Scottish and Fife housing market. The boom is here to stay for the foreseeable future.  There is also an increased interest for property in Perthshire. Gary Robertson, director of Possible, is seeing more buyers from the Central Belt. Lockdown has prompted a lot of people to rethink how they want to live their life, where they want to live their life and even who they want to live their life with. This has brought a lot of homeowners and buyers into the market.  Now is the time to sell your house  With houses often selling for far more than the asking price, Mr Robertson describes the situation as very much a sellers market right now. He is supported by Peter Ryder, managing director of Thorntons Property Services. He says: The house market locally is still very buoyant with the majority of properties now going to a closing date. Due to the competition at closing date the prices are being pushed up as demand for properties currently outweighs supply. If you are thinking of selling your home now is the time to do it.  In particular, the property market in Dundee and Angus is on the up, according to Mr Darroch of Gilson Gray. He says: Dundee and Angus is going through the next stage of the renaissance started by the V&A. Weve seen the recent announcements of the Eden Project and BT building their headquarters in Dundee. All of which I think bodes really well for Dundee economically and that will have an impact on the property market also.  No sign of market cooling yet  Mr Darroch believes that the future is really bright, with prices carrying on, but with a drop in the number of buyers in autumn. In Perthshire, Mr Robertson thinks the housing market high will carry on a little longer. He says: My take is things will start to return to normal in the run up to the festive period. It wont start as fierce into 2022, but it certainly wont be a slump or crash in the market that some have predicted. People should remember that the market was fairly healthy pre-Covid also.  Mr Ryder said it will be three to six months before there is a change in the market. He says: The house market locally is still buoyant with the majority of properties going to a closing date. There is currently no sign of the market cooling. We expect things to stay as they are for the next few months.