Strong Scotland Housing Sector Doesn’t Echo U.K., U.S. Markets

Edinburgh–Unlike London’s housing market–and the U.S. market–the Scottish real estate sector is booming, Scotland’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said Thursday.Global credit and financial problems have not affected the Scottish market, the Financial Times reports. In fact, members of Scotland’s Edinburgh-based Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found a growing difference between Scotland’s housing strength and other areas of the U.K., including the capital, according to a recent study.“The economy is holding up well, and the Scottish property sector is benefiting as a result,” said Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors director Graeme Hartley. “People here have always taken a more sensible view on the value of property, and we haven’t had the same peaks and troughs.”However, the organization’s survey found London’s market is suffering. In the past three months, just 19 percent of Scottish chartered surveyors saw home prices decline; 54 percent said that prices dropped in London, according to the Times.