Surveyors report house price rise

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/8412348.stm

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House prices in Scotland have crept up over the last three months according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

They said they expected the trend to continue, but were less certain of this than they were three months ago.

The RICS housing survey found 21% of those questioned thought prices had risen, 73% said they had remained stable and 6% said they had fallen.

The surveyors also expected house prices to continue rising slightly.

However, fewer said this in November than in October.

Of those reporting a price rise, nearly all said the increase was between zero and 2%, and none reported a rise of more than 5%.

Buyers inquiring about property for sale remained strong, although numbers have fallen since September.

Sarah Reid, of RICS Scotland, said: "More sales were completed in Scotland in November than the previous month, but we have also seen far fewer homes going on the market.

"This is unsurprising considering we are heading for Christmas and it's always a quiet time in the housing market.

"Chartered surveyors expect prices to continue rising slightly into the new year - and the lack of new instructions to sell but the relatively healthy number of buyers still around will help this happen."