Once again, evidence from the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) suggests that the property market in Scotland is doing better than the market south of the border.

This is one of the main findings to come from the latest RICS survey of chartered surveyors throughout the UK, all of whom are asked whether they believe house prices are rising, falling or remaining stable. In Scotland, two thirds of surveyors reported no change in prices and a quarter said that prices were still rising, making it the only part of the UK where house prices are still rising.  Every other region saw a majority of surveyors reporting a fall in prices, although most of these turned out to be relatively modest falls.

Another report from the Department of Communities and Local Government, also released last week, supported the RICS's findings, with annual house price inflation in Scotland reportedly higher than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. Scotland's 9.7 per cent price increase dwarfed the 3.7 and 3.8 per cent rises in Northern Ireland and Wales respectively, with England up 6.6 per cent, due in part to the strength of the London super-prime market - generally agreed to be properties with a value over £4 million.

Despite the growing number of surveyors south of the border reporting a fall in prices, the RICS argues that any decline has been limited by a fall in the number of properties coming on to the market.  This will ultimately reduce supply and implies that homeowners are not under pressure to sell.  The RICS also pointed out that the figures were largely drive by the financial markets rather than by any decline in demand for property.  RICS spokesman Jeremy Leaf, said: "The slowdown in prices is directly attributable to a lack of available finance which has hit demand.  The next six months will be a crucial period for homeowners, but would-be buyers with larger deposits may see this market as an opportunity to acquire property in areas to which they could not previously aspire as recently as the end of 2007."