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30/03/2013

Commenting on Housing Affordability in Dundee

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On Tuesday the Bank of Scotland published the results of its survey on housing affordability in Scotland.
The table shows that Dundee is the third most affordable city in Scotland with a house price to earnings ratio of 4.67. This compares with the lowest ratio in Stirling at 3.81 and Inverness, the highest in Scotland at 5.71.
Dundee's favourable ratio is based on the comparatively lower average house prices in the city. This is an advantageous for first time buyers who can stump up a deposit, but it is not so positive for those owner occupiers selling up and leaving the city, especially if they were moving to Inverness where their money wouldn't go nearly so far.
Last week Zoopla published a survey which I also reported. That survey showed that renting in our city was 2% more affordable than house purchase.
The downside of both these reports is what the indicate about the local economy in Dundee.  It seems likely that demand for housing by new residents moving into the city has been depressed by a reduction of jobs in the private and public sectors.