A POST-LOCKDOWN property sales boom is going on in parts of Scotland, solicitors have said.

Scottish homes have seen an increase in interest as workers previously based in offices can now work from home, and now seek a better quality of life.

The Highlands and Islands have been particularly popular, while North Ayrshire has also seen increased demand.

Solicitors say hundreds of inquiries have come from England while there has been “exceptional interest” from buyers based in Hong Kong.

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Chief executive of Edinburgh’s McEwan Fraser Legal, Ken McEwan, said his company currently has 1500 viewing inquiries for properties in Scotland. A third of those came from buyers in England.

He told BBC News: "In my 30 plus years in the property market, I have never seen the market so buoyant with so much pent up demand and so many buyers acting irrationally with offers way above the Home Report value for properties in the most desirable areas.

"English buyers are out-bidding many Scottish buyers. We are also seeing exceptional interest from buyers from Hong Kong."

McEwan added that there is now a waiting list for some homes on Arran.

He went on: "Buyers are mostly looking to buy in the Highlands for a better quality of life due to threats of Covid-19, and are paying off their mortgages with the higher sales prices that can be achieved in many parts of England for their houses."

However, the solicitor said he expects the housing market to start to “seriously correct itself” in the coming months as furlough schemes end.

The manager of the Highlands Solicitors Property Centre, Bernadette Walker, said the coronavirus lockdown had showed workers they don’t need to be office-based, leading to the increased interest in Highlands living.

She said: "There has been a lot of south-of-the-Border interest in places up here.

"There have been a lot of people looking for extra outdoor space.

"Lots of people like the idea of living up here but because of reasons before they weren't able to.

"With things shifting so much, it has got people really thinking about what they can now do."