House Price Report: Selling prices rise as demand for Edinburgh city homes continues to grow

The November report, which looks back at the property market over the past three months, shows that properties in Edinburgh’s south west had an average selling price of £386,144 during September-November – 16.7% higher than the same time last year – while three-bedroom houses in the areas of Currie, Balerno and Juniper Green saw an increase of 30%, with homes selling for £409,996.

Homes in the east of Edinburgh also experienced an increase, with property selling prices rising 6.4% to an average of £251,569, and flats in the city centre had a positive quarter, with a clear rise in demand from buyers. One-bedroom flats in the Leith Walk area saw selling prices rise 6.6% on average, while two-bedroom flats in central Leith rose 8.5%. Two-beds in New Town and West End increased by 8.2%, and similar in Morningside and Merchiston experienced a 10.9% increase in average selling price.

Buyers pay over Home Report valuation for coastal and city homes

During the last three months, there was a higher volume of lower-priced properties coming onto the market – the average Home Report valuation was 3% lower than the same time last year, however, buyers continued to pay over the Home Report valuation, particularly in coastal and city-centre locations.

In Edinburgh’s city centre, the neighbourhoods of Bellevue, Broughton and Hillside were especially popular with buyers. Properties here attained an average of 137.2% of their Home Report valuation during September-November, 34.3% higher than what was paid in 2020.

Selling times fall in most areas, with homes selling in days in many places

Homes in Edinburgh took just one day longer to go under offer than in 2020, with a median selling time of 17 days. Three-bedroom houses in the popular suburbs of Blackhalls, Davidsons Mains and Silverknowes, and Currie, Balerno and Juniper Green, all took only 10 days to sell.

Two-bedroom houses in Dalkeith were the fastest property type to sell, going under offer in a median time of just seven days.

Sales volumes and property listings decline as the market winds down for the year

Traditionally, the housing market begins to cool towards the end of the year, and this appears to be the case during September-November. During this time, sales volumes were down 18.7% year-on-year, but some areas of Edinburgh continued to be popular.

The highest volume of property sales was for two-bedroom flats in Leith, while the biggest leap in year-on-year property sales was for two-bedroom flats in Trinity, rising 107.1%.

The number of properties coming onto the market also began to wind down, with a 27.1% reduction in properties listed for sale. Corstorphine had the highest volume of listings, but this figure was still 39.1% less than the volumes seen during the same time in 2020, suggesting that the market is beginning to level off to more ‘normal’ levels of activity.

Closing dates more prevalent as buyers aim to snap up homes before Christmas

Properties saw strong levels of competition from eager buyers during September-November, with 36.3% of properties for sale going to a closing date. Some suburbs of Edinburgh saw a particularly high level of demand; 62% of homes for sale in Craiglockhart and Joppa went to closing dates, as did 58% of properties in Prestonpans and Murrayfield.

Paul Hilton, CEO of ESPC, said: “As we edge towards the end of an unprecedented year for the Scottish housing market, we can see that this has been another buoyant three months. Selling prices have continued to rise and buyers continued to pay over Home Report valuations for their preferred properties.

"Interestingly, there’s been a real rise in demand for city-centre properties in Edinburgh – surely a positive sign of the desire for central living resuming once again.

“We are seeing evidence of the traditional rush to move ahead of the festive season, when buyers and sellers alike are keen to complete on their new homes before the New Year – hence the increase in closing dates set, and the reduction in selling times. Competition remains high for properties, but we are beginning to see both sales and insertion volumes taper off as the year draws to a close, as we would expect at this time of year.

“Leith continues to offer good value for money and a wide selection for buyers to choose from, but the rising interest in areas such as Trinity and Dalkeith presents even more options for buyers starting out on their property journey.”

For more from ESPC, or to view properties currently on the market, visit espc.com.