Paul Hilton

Two bedroom flats in Portobello and Joppa saw a 21.7 per cent year-on-year increase in average selling price, while three bedroom houses in Cramond, Barnton and Cammo saw a 17.1 per cent decrease.

This decrease was primarily due to a greater proportion of lower value three bedroom houses in these areas coming to market this year - over the past three months, these properties achieved 109.1 per cent of Home Report valuation on average, up 5.5 percentage points compared to the previous year.

From November 2020 to January 2021, East Fife properties experienced a 26.6 per cent increase in average selling price year-on-year, while those in West Fife & Kinross saw a 9.8 per cent increase. Properties in Dunfermline experienced a 14.5 per cent rise in average selling price year-on-year.

Properties in East Lothian and Midlothian experienced a 9.4 per cent and 9.1 per cent increase in average selling price year-on-year, respectively, while those in West Lothian saw a 1.5 per cent decrease.

Between November 2020 and January 2021, the Scottish Borders saw property prices rise by 15.6 per cent year-on-year to £263,283.

Over the past three months, the number of new property listings was up 11.7 per cent in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders – Edinburgh saw a 21.2 per cent increase.

However, this increase was concentrated in November and December, with January seeing fewer properties coming to market year-on-year. This could be due to the impact of current lockdown measures and home schooling, with people potentially choosing to hold off until later in the year to sell.

The volume of property sales in these areas over the past three months has risen by a significant 45.3 per cent compared to last year. This reflects how busy the market was in the later summer and early autumn last year.

Paul Hilton, CEO of ESPC, said: “In January 2021 we saw fewer homes coming to market compared to last January. The current lockdown restrictions, Scottish Government guidance on moving home and impact of home schooling may have led people to delay a house sale until later in the year.

“January was, however, a particularly strong month for property valuation requests on ESPC, suggesting that many people are looking to sell in the near future. Rising selling prices and fast selling times also indicate that demand from buyers remains relatively strong.

“The Cabinet Secretary for Finance has confirmed that the LBTT reduction will come to end as planned on 31st March, which means we will likely see a surge in sales activity as buyers looks to complete transactions before that date – we have seen similar trends with amendments to LBTT before.

“For those thinking of buying or selling in the near future, it is best to speak to a solicitor estate agent who can help advise you on current market conditions and the current Covid-19 guidance on moving home.”