House Prices Spike

The number of Scots who own their property has grown significantly over the last decade.

According to figures, the total value of privately owned homes reached 170-BILLION pounds in 2004.

That's compared to 333-BILLION now.

Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, commented:

"The total value of all privately owned residential dwellings in the UK continues to increase, and over the past decade the value of housing stock has grown by £1.83 trillion, with a third of this rise coming in the past year alone. An increase in average property values combined with a rise in the number of private new builds has contributed to the increase in the value of housing stock across all UK regions, although the growth is stronger in London and the South East.

"Aggregate housing equity held by UK households is in a healthy state with total housing assets worth £3.76 trillion more than the total value of mortgage debt. Regionally, there is wide variation in housing equity, but importantly after the recent housing downturn all regions are showing increasing equity levels. More so, there are an estimated 7.2 million³ households in England that own their home outright and are mortgage free.”