Bonnie Scotland Estate Market Cools

Gross investment in Scottish estates dipped in 2022 as ￡1mn+ activity refocused to urban centres - but country estate prices remain at historically high levels, reports Abode2.

2022 was a banner year for the top-end of Scotland’s property market, with a record 491 residential transactions going through above ￡1mn – including the two highest-ever prices paid (a castle in East Lothian and another castle in Ross-shire).

Savills data confirms a “rebalancing towards urban locations” north of the border, with Scotland’s largest cities dominating the seven-figure sales map. Edinburgh led the way (287 ￡1mn+ transactions, focused particularly in the inner suburbs of Grange, Morningside and Merchiston), followed by Glasgow (31 sales) and St Andrews (a record 16 transactions above ￡1mn, including new build sales at Hamilton Grand).

It’s a different story in the countryside. Top-end buying activity has tailed off from 2021’s frenzy – but big-ticket estates are still changing hands.

The market for Scottish estates cooled slightly in 2022, with fewer, but larger, estates put up for sale – although prices have remained significantly higher than they were two years ago.

Strutt & Parker’s annual Scottish Estate Market Review shows the number of transactions fell by 18% in 2022, with the gross cumulative sum spent on Scottish estates ending up at ￡188mn, down from a record-breaking ￡247mn in 2021.

29 estates were offered for sale during 2022, which is seven fewer than in 2021. Of the 29 estates marketed, 23 (79%) found buyers compared with a five-year average of 69%.

The largest estate available for sale was over 28,000 acres, with the smallest being 190 acres and the average was 6,000 acres. The average size in 2021 was 3,900 acres.

Two estates sold for more than ￡20mn and a further seven for between ￡10mn and ￡20mn.