Upmarket estate agency Halliday Homes has marked its seventh year of trading with the opening of a new office in Perthshire.

The new branch in Auchterarder is the firm's third outlet, and comes as experts are predicting a downturn in the residential property market triggered by rising interest rates and the forthcoming recession. Owner Austin Halliday said the market is getting tougher, but added that this should play to the firm's focus on personal one-to-one service.

"It is not going to be an easy time," he said of the coming year. "We had five deals fall through just this morning, but because we are local clients can get through to us on the phone or in person and we can quickly guide them through the process of getting their property back on the market.

"It is harder work now than it was 18 months ago, when you were effectively just listing and selling. We are now back to doing our proper job, which in its own way is exciting."

Mr Halliday set up the business in 2015 in Bridge of Allan, where he was raised, becoming the town's first local estate agency. He opened his second branch in Linlithgow in 2019, sticking with his ethos of serving relatively small, self-contained markets.

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"We are focused on areas that are sort of community villages, where we can hit home with our customer service," Mr Halliday said.

The firm sold about 300 properties last year, and is said to be on track for some 400 transactions in the current year. The new office in Auchterarder, home of the Gleneagles hotel and golf resort, will serve a market ranging from cottages to exclusive new builds.

Mr Halliday first set up his business just months before the Brexit referendum, dealing a blow to the property market. Similarly, the office in Linlithgow opened just three months before Covid lockdown restrictions came into force.

"We rode out the last two storms, and we will get through this next one," he said.