Nick Penny, head of Savills Scotland, comments: “Scotland witnessed one of its strongest years ever in terms of residential and commercial property investment in 2017 while on the rural side of our business a lack of supply has ensured farmland values are upheld.
“On the commercial side of the business we have transacted some significant deals in the past year including the acquisition of No.3 Atlantic Quay, Glasgow for L&G and the sale of the House of Fraser department store on Buchanan Street, Glasgow on behalf of M&G. We have made some key recruits in the retail team with the appointment of Stuart Moncur and Isla Monteith towards the end of 2017 and have already won significant instructions in 2018 which will see this area of our business grow.
'We are seeing our strongest residential market in a decade with an increase in both the number of transactions and prices achieved. The forecast is for Scotland to outperform the rest of the UK. Key appointments have been made to support the strength of demand across the board, from first time buyer homes to trophy properties. The resurgence of interest from London and overseas has been driven by the comparative value on offer in Scotland.
“Our development business is fast expanding as Scotland’s major cities witness a resurgence of national and international interest in residential and mixed-use opportunities. Meanwhile our rural business has benefited from more than fifteen years of uninterrupted growth in farmland values, and while this is now stabilising, prices continue to be upheld by lack of supply. The upward trend has been even more pronounced in Scotland’s forestry sector where our specialist team are bringing in commercial, rural and lifestyle investors from all over the world.”