Over half (54%) of homes sold in Scotland last month went under offer within 30 days, Hamptons research has found.
This represents an increase from 50% in May 2024, and means the Scottish home sales happen at by far the greatest speed, pointing to strong demand in the country.
Other factors is Scotland’s different system to the rest of the UK, as Scotland has a system of ‘blind bidding’, where potential buyers make sealed bids for a property; while formal letters called ‘missives’ are exchanged between the buyer and seller to seal the deal.
The area with the quickest process in England is the West Midlands, where 35% of homes are selling within 30 days.
The slowest area is the South East, where just 22% of homes sell in 30 days. The median number of days between instruction and offer accepted stands at a huge 77 in the region.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “The post-stamp duty holiday lull has proven to be short-lived, with year-on-year changes in buyer demand returning to positive territory in May.
“Falling mortgage rates have significantly boosted buyers’ purchasing power, in most cases offsetting the increase in stamp duty bills they now face.”
There were 3% more applicants looking to buy in Great Britain in May compared to the same month last year, up from a 10% year-on-year decline in April.
The year-on-year change in the number of people looking to buy a home has returned to positive territory following two months of decline after the end of the stamp duty holiday in March.
There are now 19% more house-hunters looking to buy than in May 2019, which represents a normal pre-Covid year.