According to ESPC, the Scottish property market remains ‘exceptionally busy’ as properties in the Scottish Borders experienced a notable increase in average selling price, rising by 20.6% year-on-year to £249,373.  

Properties in West Fife & Kinross saw a 14.3% increase, while properties in Midlothian saw a 9.5% increase. Properties in East Lothian and West Lothian experienced a 7.5% and 7.8% increase in average selling price, respectively.  

In Edinburgh, the average property selling price rose by 6.2% year-on-year to £289,510. Within the capital, three-bedroom houses in Liberton and Gilmerton saw an 18.5% increase in average property selling price. However, two-bedroom flats in New Town and West End saw a year-on-year decrease in average property selling price, dropping by 14.7%.  

The number of homes coming to market is still significantly up compared to last year, which is good news for buyers. Over the past three months, the number of new listings in these areas is up 44.4% year-on-year. The districts with the greatest volume of new listings are Dunfermline, Leith and Corstorphine.   

The volume of property sales in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders over the past three months is down 5.6%. However, this decrease is concentrated in August. September and October have seen significant year-on-year increases in sales. This is likely due to the time it currently takes for a property to progress from under offer to sold, so there was a slight delay in sales volume catching up to last year after lockdown restrictions were relaxed.  

The top selling properties by sales volume over the last three months were three bedroom houses in Dunfermline and one-bedroom flats in Leith.  

There has been a decrease in selling time for properties in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders compared to last year. The median time for a property to be placed under offer over the last three months is 18 days compared to 21 days last year. Homes in East Fife have seen a significant decrease in selling time, with the median time for them to be placed under offer now at 33 days compared to 55 days the previous year.  

From August to October 2020, the average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders was 104.1% compared to 103% last year. One-bedroom flats in Leith Walk, Easter Road, Pilrig and Bonnington achieved the highest percentage of Home Report valuation at 109.4%. 

Paul Hilton, CEO of ESPC, said: “Over the past three months, the Scottish property market has remained exceptionally busy for this time of year. We are still seeing far more houses and flats coming to market year-on-year, along with strong competition for many of those homes.  

“Properties in the Borders have seen a significant jump in average selling price year-on-year, and this could be a result of lockdown restrictions and changes in daily routines encouraging people to consider a home in the country. However, we are still seeing high competition for homes in Edinburgh, suggesting that many people continue to recognise the benefits of city life.  

“While activity is generally much higher than usual for this time of year, we are seeing some month-on-month cooling in certain activities such as viewing requests and Home Report downloads. However, this is to be expected as we approach a typically quieter time of year for the property market.  

“We are pleased that the Scottish Government has confirmed house moves will be permitted across all five tier protection levels, provided the necessary guidance is followed. Our agents have reported that buyers and sellers are adhering to the current guidance well and staying safe while moving home.”