The increased activity pushed average house prices up £792 to £146,633, 0.5% up on February but 1.2% down from the year before.
Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors, said: “The end of the stamp duty holiday for new buyers sparked a glut of last-minute-merchant activity from first-timers rushing to beat the deadline and prices rose for the second successive month as a result.
“That so many first time buyers were able to piece together a deposit in the midst of economic downturn is testament to the strong underlying demand from buyers desperate to get onto the property ladder.
“Despite having to cross a relatively high threshold to get a mortgage there is still strong appetite from buyers anxious to avoid remaining stuck in expensive rental accommodation that can be a black-hole for personal finances.”
Sexton said March’s surge in first-time buyer activity was a one-off caused by the stamp duty rush.
He warned banks and building societies are having to contend with increasing funding costs imposed by the problems in the financial markets and will be forced to scale back their lending to borrowers with low deposits.
As a result activity levels in the early summer will fall back to the suppressed levels, he claimed.
Sexton also warned prospects for the housing market over the coming months will be tightly bound to the fallout from the European financial crisis, which could hamper banks and building societies’ ability to satisfy the high demand for mortgages.
The positive headline figure for March camouflaged regional volatility of prices.
Local house prices have had mixed fortunes: only 15 of the 32 local authorities in Scotland have seen house values rise over the past year.
Both Glasgow and Edinburgh metropolitan areas have seen prices fall by 1.9% in the last year, despite a wave of activity from buy-to-let landlords looking to snap up flats to use for rental accommodation.
Sexton added: “On a local level the fortunes of house prices are heavily dependent on the performance of their immediate economies, particularly the impact of public sector austerity and the threat of unemployment.”
