Scotland

With its fairytale castles and historic links, Scotland has long been a bucket list destination for American travelers, especially those who enjoy historic destinations and prefer their vacations include a round (or two or three) of golf. However, The Land of the Brave is now seeing a surge of buyers from the United States.  

According to Savills, Americans now account for 4 percent of the country’s total transactions, a 3 percent jump over the last four years. Stateside residents shopping around for a second (third or fourth) home in Scotland are flocking to places like Edinburgh, the U.K.’s second-most visited city next to London. In fact, a whopping 40 percent of prime purchases in the Scottish capital were by non-native buyers, Knight Frank agent Ricardo Volpi told Bloomberg. And between March 2020 and June 2023, the average sales of homes priced at over £2 million increased a whopping 32.6 percent in the city. 

“The buyers have been people wanting to come to Edinburgh to enjoy the festival or come to the Scottish Open—who have been here on holiday but want a home base of their own,” Max Mills, head of residential sales at Rettie, told Bloomberg. “Some well-connected Americans are already members of high-profile golf clubs in Scotland and are buying houses for when they can have time to start playing the links here more regularly.” He added that, amid rising mortgage rates, most people are paying in cash.  

Edinburgh has seen an uptick in American buyers looking to snap up prime properties.

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During the pandemic, Scotland became particularly appealing to those who wanted a break from city life, and, concurrently, the weakening of the British pound sent Americans into a European real estate frenzy. Jess Simpson, the head of a property firm in England, noted that she’s seen the amount of interest from buyers across the pond increase threefold over the last year. Specifically, her clients are interested in historic castles and other trophy properties.

“The trifecta for wealthy American clients for U.K. properties is generally a house in London, an estate in the country—in a place like the Cotswolds—and a Scottish castle or estate,” she told Bloomberg. 

Bob Dylan was seemingly ahead of the trend when he bought a 16-bedroom mansion in the Scottish Highlands back in 2006, though he is now looking to sell the 24-acre estate. The Edwardian abode, known as Aultmore House, is located within Cairngorm National Park and is listed for £3 million (or roughly $3.9 million). Here’s your chance, lads and lassies, to snap up a historic home in Scotland from one of the United States’ most beloved musicians. More