Median price at August 2008: £182,070

General increase since Sept 2007: 11%

Projected increase to Sept 2009: 0-2%

Five-year increase: 55% (£117,377)

Ten-year increase: 160% (£70,005)

The complete Stirling price guide

Stirling has been called Scotland’s most volatile property market because the average house price typically swings by between £500 and £10,000 in any given month. It has been true to type this year.

According to Allen and Harris’s Malcolm Button, negative media stories in March killed Stirling’s market after an excellent January and February. With sellers compromising on price, Stirling has enjoyed a slight boost after an uneventful midsummer. Buyers and sellers held fire while emergent market trends came into sharper focus.

Button says: “There are some bargains. It is good for anybody trading up within the same market. They may have lost the premium on their own homes, but it is still a fair market. Bridge of Allan remains popular. If I had money to spend, I would buy a three-bed semi or detached family home in a good area.”

The agent says this has been a tough learning curve for agents and clients who know nothing other than a rising market: “It is difficult to get across to clients that they will benefit from the swings and roundabouts of trading up. As a seller, if you scale down expectations you should be fine when you buy — and, of course, if your house is priced correctly, you can expect more inquiries.”

People selling big houses bought at the peak of the boom in 2006 are most vulnerable, but Button says, where clients are more receptive it is actually a better market to work in. With Stirling currently top of the tree of Allen and Harris/Sequence Homes’s 14 west of Scotland branches, the new message appears to be hitting its target. As elsewhere, sales volumes are down by 8%-10%. Button says: “We’re seeing a new realism in the market. It is difficult adjusting to these new circumstances, especially for sellers.

Steadings also appear to have fallen out of fashion. There is a bit of oversupply and with people counting every penny the value may not be there with that style of property. Detached villas may be a better bet for both developers and buyers as Stirling is a predominately family market.

“We are on a rocky road,” says Button, “but I am feeling upbeat. It is a difficult message to get out there but everybody has a chance to get what they are looking for in these conditions — except perhaps first-time buyers who face a different time with mortgages and deposits.”

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