Perth and Kinross

Median price at August 2008: £187,594

General increase since Sept 2007: 7 %

Projected increase to Sept 2009: 0-2%

Five-year increase: 84% (£66,527)

Ten-year increase: 182% (£101,898)

The complete Kinross-shire price guide

Five years may have elapsed since the inaugural Sunday Times Price Guide and, although our “come to Kinross” clarion call has been consistent throughout that time, the picturesque county on the shores of Loch Leven remains criminally underrated. So much so, that DM Hall’s Alasdair Seaton claims that his firm has experienced a one-third fall in valuations over the past year.

Kinross remains 30% cheaper than comparable commuter locations such as East Lothian, Fife and Perthshire and, with the local market stagnant, it is arguably better value than ever.

As we said last time, there is property gold to be found amid its sleepy winding roads, country pubs and loch-side views. A three-bed semi will still set you back about £145,000 — less than the price of a new one-bed apartment in the capital’s Haymarket. The annual T in the Park festival’s tenure at nearby Balado may have raised Kinross’s profile but it hasn’t inspired an influx of relocators.

Unlike neighbouring counties, there is a lower building density and, as such, it is the ideal relocation county for value-seeking, growing families looking for houses with grounds, an outdoor lifestyle, good schooling and pretty surroundings.

With everything on your doorstep (including the motorway to Edinburgh), we are at a loss to explain why Kinross has never lit the blue touch paper and sparked into life.

In 2004, Kinross briefly threatened to catch fire with a 30% annual increase but, apart from that one false dawn, it has stuck rigidly to a local market model of steady but unspectacular gains. Kinross remains the ultimate and most appealing of enigmas.

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