The cost of Scottish new builds have soared ahead of existing homes, analysis from estate agency DJ Alexander has found.
the average price of a new build in Scotland increased by £53,939 from £281,508 to £335,447, which is a 19.2% rise over 12 months.
Over the same period the average price of an existing property increased by £8,640 from £165,388 to £174,028 which is a rise of 5.2%.
David Alexander, the chief executive officer of DJ Alexander Scotland, commented: “These figures show that new builds continue to attract premium prices.
“A contributing factor must be the relatively low volume of newbuilds currently being built causing demand to outstrip supply but there will be other reasons.”
“New builds are attractive to buyers because they generally have better design with higher environmental and energy efficiency standards making them cheaper to run than existing homes.
“But contributing to the higher prices will be rising material and labour charges coupled with more stringent expensive energy systems which have resulted in considerably higher build costs which are passed on to the homebuyer.”
While all four of the major cities of Scotland showed double digit percentage increases in new build prices – up 20.4% in Glasgow; 19.4% higher in Edinburgh; 15.3% more in Dundee; and 13.0% in Aberdeen – the largest price increase in existing properties was in Glasgow at 5.9% and 5.1% in Edinburgh while in Dundee and Aberdeen prices rose more modestly by 1.5% and 0.2% respectively.
The number of newbuild starts has fallen 12.1% year on year between 23-24 and 24-25, means that demand will continue to be greater than supply in the next few years, which DJ Alexander predicted will result in higher prices in the future.
Alexander added: “However, it is clear that we need many more new builds to be started in the coming years if demand is to be met.
“New build sales are critical to the wider property market in Scotland and the lower volume of starts during the latest 12-month period is concerning.
“At a time when it has never been as important for more homes to be built in Scotland it is essential that volumes increase to meet demand.”