ESPC House Price Report - November 2013
Summary
- Activity among buyers and sellers continued to rise in the East Central Scotland property market.
- In the three months to November the number of sales recorded across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife rose by 24% annually.
- The number of homes coming onto the market rose by 22% annually.
- The recent improvement in the market has led to a rise in the number of sellers marketing their home at Offers Over. 45% of homes brought to the market during the last three months were advertised at Offers Over, up from 35% last year.
- The percentage of sales where the Home Report valuation was achieved rose substantially across Edinburgh and the Lothians.
- In most areas house prices were slightly higher than at this stage last year. In Edinburgh the average house price rose by 2.6% annually to £211,580.
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Full report
Latest figures from ESPC have shown that activity among buyers and sellers has continued to rise across East Central Scotland. During the three months from September to November the number of homes sold across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife rose by 24% annually bringing sales during this period to their highest level for six years.
Activity among sellers was also on the rise, with the number of homes coming onto the market up by 22% annually during the same period.
David Marshall, business analyst with ESPC said: "For most of 2013 the rise in activity has been focussed on buyers but more recently we’ve also started to see a rise in the number of homes coming onto the market. It goes without saying that you want to see a good balance between supply and demand so the fact that we’re now seeing things picking up on both sides of the coin is clearly good news for the market as a whole.
"Many more sellers bringing their home to the market today are using the Offers Over approach to market their home than has been the case in recent years which reflects the improving confidence in the market. 45% of sellers bringing their home to the market over the last three months used this approach to advertise their home, up from 35% a year ago."
The improvement in market activity has also seen a substantial rise in the percentage of sales where the Home Report valuation was achieved. In Edinburgh, for example 43% of homes sold between September and November achieved a selling price equal to or greater than their valuation, up from 23% during the same period in 2012.
In most areas the average house price is now slightly higher than was the case a year ago. In Edinburgh, a 2.6% rise brought the average price to £211,580 whilst in Midlothian a 0.4% increase took the average to £164,507.
Although sharper increases were observed in some areas, these typically offset falls observed a year ago. For example, the 9.4% increase in East Lothian came on the back of a 7.2% decline in 2012. Similarly, the 8.6% rise in the average price of a three bedroom, semi-detached home in Edinburgh followed an 8.6% annual fall last year.
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