ESPC House Price Report - November 2012
- The average house price in Edinburgh fell by 6.1% annually in the three months to November and now stands at £206,161.
- House prices are also lower than at this time last year across the rest of the Lothians.
- Dunfermline saw a slight increase in the average house price - a 1.4% year-on-year rise bringing the average in the town to £129,291.
- There has been a slight increase in the percentage of homes achieving Home Report valuation, but the majority of sales are still being completed for less than the valuation.
- Across East Central Scotland properties are selling for an average of 5.1% below valuation.
- The lower end of the market continues to face greater difficulties, with smaller homes notably less likely to achieve Home Report valuation.
Latest figures from ESPC show that the average selling price of a property in Edinburgh between September and November stood at £206,161. This represents a fall of 6.1% from the same period last year when the average house price in Scotland's Capital stood at £219,501 and was the fourth consecutive month during which a year-on-year decline in the average house price had been observed.
In other areas of the Lothians house prices were also below 2011 levels. For example, in East Lothian a drop of 7.2% brought the average house price to £187,394, whilst in Midlothian a 4.3% fall means that the average house price in the area now stands at £163,826. In West Lothian the average selling price of a property in the three months to November was £144,324 - down 7.0% from £155,165 a year ago.
In most areas there has been a slight increase in the percentage of sales where the Home Report valuation has been achieved. In Edinburgh, for example, 22.6% of properties sold over the last three months achieved their valuation - up from 21.6% a year ago. Across the rest of the Lothians 16.7% of sales were completed at or above valuation compared to 15.6% last year. Despite this modest improvement, market conditions continue to favour those who are looking to buy and properties are currently selling for an average of 5.1% less than their valuation.
David Marshall, business analyst with ESPC said: "For most of 2012 there have been a greater number of homes selling than in recent year but at prices below levels seen last year and this trend has continued into November. The number of people looking to sell is greater than the number who are in a position to buy meaning that buyers are generally able to negotiate a selling price that is a few percentage points below Home Report valuation. Smaller properties remain less likely to achieve valuation than larger family homes. Just 17% of one bedroom flats sold in Edinburgh over the last three months achieved valuation compared to over 30% of houses with three or more bedrooms.
"As you would expect, the likelihood of achieving valuation declines the longer a property spends on the market meaning that the best advice for sellers in most cases is to make sure they don't set their initial asking price too high to avoid deterring potential buyers."
Got a question? Read our House Price Report FAQs.
Want to know about previous months and years? Read our historical house price data.