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| Scots housing market 'best in UK' | Scots housing market 'best in UK' |
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| The fall in property prices in Scotland has been less dramatic than in the UK as a whole, according to the latest figures. | The fall in property prices in Scotland has been less dramatic than in the UK as a whole, according to the latest figures. |
| The Nationwide Building Society reported that the UK's annual house values fell by 15.9% in 2008. | The Nationwide Building Society reported that the UK's annual house values fell by 15.9% in 2008. |
| However, in Scotland prices went down by 8.1% over the year. | However, in Scotland prices went down by 8.1% over the year. |
| The Nationwide's chief economist, Fionnuala Earley, said: "Scotland remains the best performing part of the UK." | The Nationwide's chief economist, Fionnuala Earley, said: "Scotland remains the best performing part of the UK." |
| In its final quarter survey of 2008, the building society said that UK prices fell by 2.5% in December, taking the average cost of a house down to £153,048 - £29,000 less than a year ago. | |
| The building society says that as prices have now fallen for 14 months in a row they are 18% lower than their peak in October 2007. See the Nationwide's regional breakdown for ScotlandHowever, Scotland was the only region to see an increase during the fourth quarter, with prices rising by 0.1%. | |
| The report said that Scotland was the most optimistic part of the UK with regard to expectations for future house price movements and had been so "consistently throughout 2008". | The report said that Scotland was the most optimistic part of the UK with regard to expectations for future house price movements and had been so "consistently throughout 2008". |
| The report added: "While current, relatively positive expectations are not a guarantee that prices will follow the same path, they do signal a greater degree of confidence in the Scottish market than in other parts of the UK. | The report added: "While current, relatively positive expectations are not a guarantee that prices will follow the same path, they do signal a greater degree of confidence in the Scottish market than in other parts of the UK. |
| "To the extent that we know the importance of confidence in housing market performance, this bodes well for Scotland." | "To the extent that we know the importance of confidence in housing market performance, this bodes well for Scotland." |
| All sub-regions within the country have experienced annual house price falls and of the three main cities in Scotland, Aberdeen saw the largest annual fall at 11%, closely followed by Glasgow at 10%. | All sub-regions within the country have experienced annual house price falls and of the three main cities in Scotland, Aberdeen saw the largest annual fall at 11%, closely followed by Glasgow at 10%. |
| Edinburgh performed best with price falls of 6% in the year. The largest fall was experienced in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde, where prices fell by 15% over the last year. | |
| The Nationwide's Ms Earley said: "Scotland has performed very, very steadily over the cycle and affordability has been much better than in other parts of the UK. | |
| "I think we are still seeing Scotland bucking the trend in terms of the extent of changes in prices, but I don't think that Scotland in general is going to just continue to see those increases in prices we saw in the last quarter. | |
| "It is going to be affected by the economy going into recession, the UK economy going into recession, and we will expect to see further falls in prices in Scotland." | |
| She added that Scotland's public sector was a "relatively important" factor when it came to house prices. | |
| Ms Earley explained: "If you've got more stable employment as a result of of a bigger public sector then that should underpin the housing market by making the ability of people to pay their loans and continuing to plan and move house more available to them." | |
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| NATIONWIDE HOUSE PRICES - SCOTLAND Nationwide sub-region 2008 prices (Q4) % change over 10 years Annual change last quarter Annual change (Q4) Aberdeen city £209,641 137 -7 -11 Aberdeen and Moray £154,988 136 -2 -7 Dunbartonshire and N Lanarkshire £138,849 102 -8 -12 Dundee and Angus £142,321 134 -6 -10 Edinburgh city £241,617 142 -3 -6 Fife £131,565 125 -5 -6 Glasgow city £159,508 130 -8 -10 Highlands and Islands £143,501 139 -5 -6 Lothian and Falkirk £148,449 114 -4 -9 Perthshrie and Stirling £152,683 117 -3 -6 Renfrewshire and Inverclyde £145,700 104 -10 -15 South Lanarkshire £138,026 117 -5 -7 Southern Scotland £134,305 135 -5 -6 Source: Nationwide house price index | NATIONWIDE HOUSE PRICES - SCOTLAND Nationwide sub-region 2008 prices (Q4) % change over 10 years Annual change last quarter Annual change (Q4) Aberdeen city £209,641 137 -7 -11 Aberdeen and Moray £154,988 136 -2 -7 Dunbartonshire and N Lanarkshire £138,849 102 -8 -12 Dundee and Angus £142,321 134 -6 -10 Edinburgh city £241,617 142 -3 -6 Fife £131,565 125 -5 -6 Glasgow city £159,508 130 -8 -10 Highlands and Islands £143,501 139 -5 -6 Lothian and Falkirk £148,449 114 -4 -9 Perthshrie and Stirling £152,683 117 -3 -6 Renfrewshire and Inverclyde £145,700 104 -10 -15 South Lanarkshire £138,026 117 -5 -7 Southern Scotland £134,305 135 -5 -6 Source: Nationwide house price index |