While this might not be the time to make a quick return, the housing market is cyclical and new homes are a sound investment in the medium to long-term.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, both first time buyers and home movers are now benefiting from the lowest debt servicing costs since 2004 (14 May).
With increasing affordability and choice, especially true for those trading up because price differentials have closed, and also because, with supply falling, Scotland will face an even greater housing shortage as the market recovers.
As new homes will therefore continue to be in high demand, this consequential lack of supply could conceivably drive significant pent-up demand - perversely fuelling conditions for a potential return to double-digit house price inflation in the future.
With March 2009 data from the Royal Insitution of Chartered Surveyors showing a growing interest in property and sales increasing for the first time in more than a year, deals available now won’t be around indefinitely so waiting it out could therefore be a risky strategy.
So with interest rates at a record low, a range of attractive deals currently on offer and a variety of innovative and robust solutions available from home builders to help people get onto and up the property ladder, now is a good time to buy.
This is borne out by new Savills Research which finds that spring 2009 is likely to be a very good time to buy with realistic prices, a high volume of good quality stock currently available for buyers to choose from and mortgages becoming more affordable.
Savills goes on to say that "buyers who able to take advantage of reduced prices for new build property may well benefit in the long-term as prices recover".
According to property website Rightmove, latest indicators show around 57% of those hoping to get on to the property ladder think house prices will stay the same or increase during the coming 12 months while 69% think now is a good time to buy.
Rightmove also said one in five first time buyers thought it would be more difficult to buy in a year's time, viewing the current market as a window of opportunity.
People continue to need comfortable, reliable places to live - new homes are guaranteed, sustainable and built to the highest standards, making them up to five times more energy efficient than their Victorian equivalent. In fact, carbon emissions of the average Scottish house have been reduced by well over 60% from 1990 levels (click here to read more).
Many new homes are now built to order - providing additional time, flexibility and increased confidence for those needing to sell existing properties.
Scotland continues to remain the most resilient market in the UK, outperforming the rest of the country for five consecutive quarters. (Nationwide Regional House Price Report 2 April 2009)
Scotland is still also the most optimistic area of the UK with fewer consumers than elsewhere expecting prices to fall during the next six months. (Nationwide Regional House Price Report 2 April 2009)
The latest quarterly report from the Glasgow Solicitors Property Centre also provides more evidence that house prices in Scotland are less volatile than elsewhere, showing that the pace at which house prices in Glasgow and west central Scotland are falling has slowed, raising the possibility that the worst of the falls in price are beginning to pass. Professor Gwilym Pryce of the University of Glasgow who conducted the data's analysis said: "For those able to purchase when prices are low, housing will be a particularly attractive long-term investment."
Research from home.co.uk also shows that vendors seem to have a greater chance of selling their homes in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK with 40% of places where houses sell fastest. There is also not one Scottish location among the estate agency portal’s worst-selling spots in Britain.