Edinburgh & Lothians Property Market

As we enter the final weeks of 2019 the number of properties changing hands across east central Scotland has remained high. Warners, one of Scotland’s leading solicitor estate agents, helped to sell over 300 properties in Edinburgh and the Lothians between August and October this year. That marked a massive increase of more than 36% compared to the same three-month period last year.

Despite the jump in the number of homes changing hands, house prices have risen more modestly. In the there months to October, ESPC found that the average selling price of a property in the Capital was £273,731 – up 2.8% from £266,156 a year ago.

Commenting on the figures David Marshall, Operations Director with Warners said: “We have seen a real surge in the number of properties being sold this year but thankfully house prices have not risen too sharply. This is, in large part, because there has been a consistent improvement in the number of homes coming onto the market over the last two years.

“As a result, the number of homes for sale in Edinburgh and the Lothians has steadily improved. This means that buyers have more choice and there is a better balance between supply and demand than was the case two or three years ago. This in turn has helped to ensure that house price inflation has not spiked to levels that would be unsustainable over the longer term.”

With greater equilibrium between supply and demand now, the premiums that buyers have had to pay in order to secure a property are lower than was the case last year. In Edinburgh, the average premium paid over and above the Home Report valuation to secure a property between August and October this year was 4.8%. That represents a notable reduction from the figure of 6.3% observed 12 months ago.

David Marshall went on to say: “With more properties to choose from, buyers are typically facing a little less competition from other purchasers meaning that, on average, the premium that needs to be paid to secure a home is lower than was the case a year ago. There are still cases where properties are achieving much higher premiums. Such instances are more rare than they were a year ago and typically this will happen if a property attracts a high level of interest during its first week or two on the market.

“There was, perhaps surprisingly, very little disruption to the market during October despite the ongoing uncertainty around Brexit. There had been a feeling that some potential buyers and sellers would sit tight during the month as the previous deadline of 31 October approached but in practise, activity was consistently high throughout the month.

“Heading towards the last few weeks of the year activity will inevitably start to quieten down a little as people start to turn their thoughts to the festive period. The expectation is that activity levels will be broadly in line with what we saw at the end of 2018, with house price inflation continuing at between 2 and 3%.”

If you have a question about buying or selling property, contact Warners today on 0131 667 0232 or by emailing property@warnersllp.com and one of our team will be delighted to help.