Ongoing lack of supply of houses and high demand in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders will likely continue driving up selling prices, making it difficult for first time buyers, according to the latest House Price Report from the ESPC.
Over the past three months, sales volume in these areas rose 8.2% year-on-year — but the number of homes coming to market fell by 6.3%.
The top selling property type was two bedroom flats in Leith, closely followed by three bedroom houses in Dunfermline.
The average selling price in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders was £256,730 — a 4.1% increase compared to last year.
In Edinburgh, the average selling price was £276,582 — a 4% increase compared to last year.
Within the capital, three-bedroom houses in the west Edinburgh areas of Blackhall, Davidsons Mains, Silverknowes, Cramond, Barnton and Cammo saw the biggest increase in average selling price, rising by 13.1% to £400,605.
One-bedroom flats in Abbeyhill and Meadowbank on the east side of Edinburgh city centre saw a 9.9% increase in average selling price, rising to £170,362.
From May to July 2019, the average selling price in West Lothian fell 21.2% to £169,335 — largely due to a greater proportion of higher value homes being sold last year.
In East Lothian, average selling price increased 6.7% year-on-year, and in Midlothian average selling price rose by 4.7%.
In West Fife & Kinross, average selling price increased b6.1% year-on-year and in Dunfermline the average selling price rose 4.5% to £173,933.
In East Fife, the average selling price rose 3.6%.
In the Scottish Borders, the average selling price of properties decreased by 3.8% year-on-year to £225,898.
Jamie Fraser-Davidson, Business Analyst at ESPC, said: “Over the past three months, we’ve seen the volume of residential property sales in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders continue to increase compared to last year.
“This is due to a rising volume of properties coming to market at the end of 2018 and start of 2019.
“However, in the last three months we have seen a fall in the number of properties coming to market compared to last year.
“Sellers may be becoming less confident as Brexit approaches but rising selling prices and sales volumes show that demand remains strong.
“The Bank of England’s decision to keep the interest rate at the current level of 0.75% is good news for borrowers.
“However, with fewer properties coming to market, lack of supply and high demand will likely continue driving up selling prices in the area, making it tricky for first time buyers to get on the property ladder.”