THE oil price slump has seen Aberdeen become the only city in a new survey which has seen a house price drop in the past year.
A Hometrack survey of 20 major UK cities, shows that average house prices in the Granite City fall by 1.6 per cent to £190,900 in the year to February 2016. That compared to a 9.3 per cent rise in the previous year.
The house price hotspots were London with a 13.8 per cent annual house price rise, Cambridge with 13.6 per cent and Bristol with 12.5 per cent.
The survey shows that Glasgow is one of five cities where house price rises have taken the longest to return to levels before the 2008 financial crisis.
The city saw a 6.4 per cent house price rise in the past year - its highest rate for 8.3 years. Portsmouth topped the the list, with its 9.2 per cent annual house price rise being the highest for 11.3 years.
Hometrack analysts say that the late recovery of the cities provides scope for house price values to further climb in the next three to four years, as they catch up with the rest of the country.
Overall city level house price inflation increased to 11.0 per cent up from 8.1 per cent a year ago, the highest annual rate of growth for almost 18 months.
Dr John Boyle, director of research and strategy for Rettie and Co, felt that Aberdeen house prices and transactions are holding up "reasonably well" considering the economic fallout cause by the oil price collapse.
"Aberdeen was probably due a correction anyway due to the rapid pace of growth between 2004 and 2014, when it outgrew London in terms of average prices," he said.
Glasgow was now outperforming other Scottish cities in the annual house price survey because it was growing from a lower price base than Aberdeen and Edinburgh, he said.
Faisal Choudhry, head of Savills Research in Scotland, said Aberdeen was continuing to "adjust" following several years of "phenomenal" house price growth.
"However, there are some parts of the market which have remained somewhat stable, such as properties priced between £200,000 and £400,000, which are continuing to attract professionals and families," he said.
He said the Glasgow area, which had been lagging for several years following the housing market downturn, is now benefitting from having "relatively attainable house prices" and improving transport links, particularly in the east end of the city.
"The market has been boosted by a growing number of new build sites, which have been supported by the Scottish Government's Help to Buy scheme."
The Scottish Government has confirmed that more than 8,000 households have now received support to own their own home through the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme.
More than £500m has been invested to help first time buyers and existing home owners purchase a new home since 2013 under the scheme, which runs until mid-April.
The Help to Buy (Scotland) Affordable Home Ownership scheme, currently open for applications, will replace the current programme and will run until 2019.
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