Scottish Housing Market Review Q4 2024
Quarterly bulletin collating a range of previously published statistics on the latest trends in the Scottish housing market.
7. Mortgage Affordability
The impact of the increase in interest rates is reflected in measures of mortgage affordability. As illustrated by Chart 7.1, the share of borrower income taken up by capital and interest payments for new mortgages had reached a low in 2020 due to the fall in interest rates in response to the Covid pandemic. Subsequently, the sharp rise in interest rates has translated into a significant increase: for home movers the share has increased from a low of 15.7% in Q3 2020 to 18.8% in Q3 2024, while for first-time buyers the share has increased from a low of 15.3% in Q2 2020 to 20.0% in Q3 2024.
Source: UK Finance
Chart 7.2 shows that the average house-price-to-income ratio for new mortgages in Q3 2024 was 2.6 for home movers and 2.9 for first-time buyers, which for each series is similar to its long-term average since Q2 2005.
Source: UK Finance
Contact
Email: jake.forsyth@gov.scot
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