The growth in house prices in Tayside and Fife has been remarkable.
A report last week showed property prices rose by up to 16% in the past year.
Estate agency RSB Lindsay’s head of Dundee Chris Todd said he explosion in house prices in the past 18 months has been remarkable.
He said: “We have really never experienced anything like we’ve had when the market reopened. It just didn’t stop.
“The property market’s been the most buoyant I’ve seen it since 2006/7.
“Supply hasn’t kept up with demand at all and that’s pushed prices up. Lending is readily available as well which is the difference between now and the credit crunch.”
RSB Lindsays house price prediction
But what is his house price prediction for 2022?
Mr Todd expects the growth to continue, albeit at a lower level.
He said: “I think in 2022 house prices will cool – they have to.
“I think we’ll come back to a normal property market – busy, buoyant, active but back to pre-2020 levels of growth.”
As house prices have grown so have the number of staff at RSB Lindsays, which is also a full service legal firm.
Lindsays first came to Tayside in 2012 when it merged with Shield & Kyd. It then merged with Dundee-based RSB Macdonald in 2015 to become RSB Lindsays.
RSB Lindsays growth
Since 2019, 20 new people have joined the firm’s offices in Dundee.
The firm has 57 staff in Dundee between its office in Seabraes House and estate agency in Crichton Street.
Mr Todd said the firm’s growth has been exciting to watch.
“As someone from Dundee who was a partner in Shield & Kyd, it’s been pleasing to see us develop and gain market share in the city,” he said.
“It’s been continual growth for the past nine years and very much an upwards trajectory.”
Growth through acquisition
Lindsays also has offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh and can trace its roots to 1815.
It has been involved in six mergers and acquisitions since 2008 as the Scottish legal sector has consolidated.
The business has grown from 11 partners in the early 90s to 40 partners today.
Managing partner Alasdair Cummings said it was likely more deals will follow.
He said: “For the six deals we’ve brought in there have been 20 opportunities.
“Will there be more? Yes, I think there will be more.
“It’s all about bringing in good people, with the right chemistry on the same wavelength.
“If you bring good people in, good things happen. That leads to more opportunity.”
