House sellers face 'reality gap'

Houses in Scotland are being sold for almost 10% less than their asking price meaning sellers are facing a "reality gap", according to a property website.

The s1homes Scottish house price report showed that the average asking price for properties across the country was £169,269 between April and June, but the average amount homes were actually sold for was £153,301.

It means properties were sold for around £15,500 less than the price they were put on the market for.

The only exception is in Edinburgh, which is said to have "bucked the trend", with houses selling for slightly more than the asking price.

The "reality gap" was largest in North and South Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Dunbartonshire and Falkirk, according to the report.

It said that at the lower end of the market, which includes flats and terraced houses, sellers were more realistic, but at the higher end the average selling price of a detached house was almost 20% below the average asking price.

In the last three months, asking prices have gone up by 1.73% when compared with the previous quarter, and while average selling prices have also risen by 3.2% during the same period, commentators say sellers are being "unrealistic".

Mark Smith, managing director of s1homes, said: "The report shows that house sellers are still being unrealistic with their expectations and setting their asking prices too high. Even with the slight increase in selling prices achieved the gap between expectation and reality is still very marked, particularly at the higher end of the market."

Moya McVey, from The Glasgow Property Agency, said: "It would appear that agents have had to deliver an honest pricing strategy at lower levels in the market in order to sell and evidence can be shown due to the volume of transactions.

"In the higher price brackets, the volume of transactions has dipped and consequently there is less evidence to point sellers in the right direction."