Median price at August 2008: £177,199

General increase since Sept 2007: 16%

Projected increase to Sept 2009: 0-2%

Five-year increase: 79% (£98,824)

Ten-year increase: 189% (£61,410)

The complete Perth price guide

With no heavy industry, no dramatic peaks and troughs and a bourgeois population profile, Perth has been sheltered from the extremities of property market fluctuations. Despite this year’s downturn, confidence remains high with a decent buffer of personal wealth to keep Fair City citizens warm when an economic chill blows.

The number of property transactions in July were up on June’s figures with just a small fall year on year.

Average values are also up — 5% on July 2007 levels, according to Alastair Anderson of Anderson Beaton Lamont. He says: “There is more stock on the market (double last year’s) and we are no longer experiencing clamorous activity at closing dates. We have had a steady stream of good, strong sales and only a few price reductions and fixed prices.”

Fewer people are thinking about moving, reflecting the national picture. Those who are generally sell first to avoid being caught in a chain. With steady, large employers such as Stagecoach and Norwich Union in situ, the economic prospects for Perth seem well starred. Currently, there is less buy-to-let activity in Perth than elsewhere. Flats are the PSPC’s poorest performing sector. However, Alastair Anderson believes that could all change. Landlords’ yields are going up around the country. With constraints on lending, more people need homes to rent. Perth will be no different.

As Perth moves relatively slowly towards “buyers’ market” conditions, Alastair Anderson says the winners could be those looking to build BTL portfolios in central Perth. Owners of modern villas and bungalows, the city's most popular house types, could also prosper.

The credit crunch officially hit Perth in August, according to agents. PSPC’s Anne Begg says: “These are less volatile times than the frothy peaks of the 2006 boom. It is hard to believe that only two years ago some homes were going for 40%-50% over the asking price.” Things may have slowed in Perth, but it is hardly a crisis in a city that has seen average house prices grow by 189% in ten years, according to HBOS.

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