The popular market sectors around Glasgow are becoming so expensive that they are fast becoming no-go areas for outsiders. Properties in the West End, Bearsden, Milngavie, and a wide arc of countryside running from the north-west of the city almost to Stirling, are selling for startling prices.
But the high prices are only being paid for special homes, usually at the upper end of the market. And as prices soar effortlessly upwards like birds of prey on a tropical thermal, buyers from cooler climes find that they cannot afford to penetrate the hot spots.
In the last few days Bearsden-based estate agents G&S Properties marketed an up-market house at offers over #275,000. It sold for #360,000. One home in the North-west of the city which achieved #150,000 last year is back on the market again - at offers over #250,000. Gordon Adams of G&S has no doubt that it will more than achieve its asking price. He can provide a clutch of similar results.
''In nearly 30 years in this business I haven't seen it as buoyant at the top end of the market. And it's all because there is a dearth of properties available.
''Faced with a shortage of supply, people are scrambling at closing dates for the houses they want, and they are throwing big money at them.'' Yet, surveyors are generally valuing homes at around the prices which estate agents are putting on them. So why the dramatic uplift in offers?
''People are losing two or three houses at closing dates, then throwing everything at the next property they fancy. They seem to be prepared to write off the extra cash over the next 10 or 20 years. And if they are selling in the same market then they'll get the benefit of higher prices to throw at their next property,'' says Adams.
What they gain on the market swing they can spend on the roundabout of their next purchase. But those outwith the charmed circle simply can't generate enough from their current home to buy their way into a place in the sun. They are left with their noses pressed against the glass walls which now ring the privileged price areas.
A two bedroom ground floor cottage flat in Rutherglen sold last week for #32,100. Although it was formerly local authority stock, it would have fetched double that price in the West End.
''There are large parts of Glasgow where prices are fairly static right now. And I don't how people cope if they are selling an up-market home in Birmingham or Manchester and are hoping to buy at the top end of Glasgow - they'll probably find that they just can't afford to,'' says Adams.
Even within the best areas, not everything can expect to achieve top prices. The price uplift is being driven by a shortage of good properties, but there is no shortage of the ordinary or mediocre.
''There's plenty of rubbish on the market, but people won't pay top whack for it - even if it is in Bearsden or Drymen. Buyers are very discerning nowadays and they want the best their money can buy,'' he says.
With purchasers prepared to pay daft prices for the right home, do we really need estate agents? Adams says this is the time when agents really do their job in maximising the price for their clients.
A house being marketed by G&S Properties was recently advertised at offers over #165,000. When an offer of #175,000 arrived the seller was delighted, and very keen to accept it.
''We persuaded our client not to rise to the bait just yet. Then we put the house to a closing date and achieved #215,000. We'd really done our job, our advice had increased the selling price by #40,000.''
Adams is convinced that this is no brief market bubble. Sales levels picked up early this year. Prices were rising even before the leaves were on the trees. Now the azaleas are in bloom and the bluebells are swaying in the rockeries, just when market activity rises further.
''I can't see the price increases halting for some time, the market is just getting into full swing,'' says Adams. ''And people don't have the horrors of high inflation and crippling mortgage rates to worry about. The professional classes are much more confident about moving home than they were a year ago.''
When prices rise in the second-hand sector, over-heating is often avoided thanks to a market safety valve - the relative stability of new home prices. During the last boom, many people turned to the advantages of a fixed price new home rather than compete in the blind bidding ''offers over'' system.
But it is arguable that the new build sector is now caught in an inflationary spiral as well. Planning policies which are restricting the availability of residential development sites are pushing up land prices. Inevitably, new build house prices will have to rise to maintain the builders' margins.
But while a few privileged areas see soaring prices, much of Scotland is still showing much more modest growth. The latest Scottish House Price Monitor from the TSB reveals that the three months to the end of April saw the traditional dip in average prices which comes in the low-activity late winter early spring. Hardly a sign of boom, it's business as usual for much of Scotland.
Average prices north of the Border increased by 6.1% over the two months to end of April, compared with retail price inflation of 3.5% over the same period.
In short, most of Scotland is seeing real price gains at sustainable levels - but not enough to allow sellers in Bridgeton or Broxburn to buy in Bearsden.
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