ESPC House Price Report - June 2024

Property Market Data - Key Points:

• The average selling price of property across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders was £280,419 – 0.3% higher than the same time last year.
• New property listings increased 14.4% year-on-year, while sales volumes rose by 16.9%.
• Properties had a median time of 23 days to go under offer, four days slower year-on-year.
• Buyers paid on average 102.2% of the Home Report valuation, 1.3 percentage points less than in April-June 2023.

ESPC’S CEO, Paul Hilton, talks us through the latest developments in the property market across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders, looking at the three months of April-June 2024.

“During April-June 2024, the average property selling price across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders was £280,419, which is 0.3% higher than the average we saw during the same time last year, as well as being very similar to the average in April-June 2022, showing some real consistency across the market which can offer reassurance to buyers and sellers alike.

“Across the regions covered by ESPC, West Fife & Kinross saw the biggest leap in average property prices, jumping 8.2% year-on-year to £220,715. This region remains one of the most affordable, even with price hikes, although this may be due to buyers bidding over Home Report valuation to secure properties skewing the figures. By contrast, East Lothian experienced the largest dip, with a 4% decline meaning properties in this region sold for £283,066 on average; after years of exceptionally high average prices (mostly driven by buyers paying premiums) it’s not unexpected to see East Lothian’s average prices settle back down to bring them back in line with the regional averages. The City of Edinburgh remained the most expensive region, with properties selling for an average of £298,591.

“Looking at specific areas, we can see that there are huge differences between the most expensive and most affordable areas to buy a home. The most expensive neighbourhood was Craiglockhart in Edinburgh, where the average cost of a home was £501,944. By contrast, Galashiels in the Scottish Borders was the most affordable area to buy a property, with an average selling price of £125,539. Galashiels was also home to the most affordable property type overall; one-bedroom flats here cost £61,956 on average.

“As we examine property prices, we must also of course discuss the perceived versus factual value of these properties. The amount that buyers are willing to bid above the official Home Report valuation has shifted significantly in the last two years, and as we continue to see higher volumes of properties enter the market, pressure continues to lessen on buyers meaning they are less likely to pay a premium to secure a property. This has certainly been the case during April-June: during this time, 74.4% of properties sold for at least their Home Report valuation, down from 79.7% the previous year, indicating that higher numbers of buyers were able to purchase a property without paying significantly over the odds.

“For properties that did sell over and above their Home Report valuation (which was the case in the vast majority), buyers paid an average of 102.2% of that figure, which is down 1.3 percentage points on the same time last year. Buyers were able to pick up a property for just under valuation in West Lothian, where homes sold for 99.9% of their Home Report valuation on average. Sought-after East Lothian commanded the highest premium overall, but buyers were only required to bid on average 102.7% of the Home Report valuation to be successful.

“The volume of properties coming onto the market does affect the overall selling prices of property, especially when we take bidding over the Home Report valuation into account – and by that we mean, with more properties on the market, there is less pressure for buyers to pay wildly over the valuation figure, as they have so much more choice. With the reduction in the amount of Home Report valuation paid, we can see a clear alignment with the volume of properties coming onto the market – up 14.4% on the same time last year. Coinciding with this, we’re seeing very healthy levels of sales too, with sales volumes up 16.9% on April-June 2023, meaning the market overall is busy and thriving.

“At the risk of sounding repetitive, yet again we can see that two-bedroom flats in Leith were the top-selling property type, closely followed by one-bed flats in Leith. This is a trend that shows no sign of slowing down, with buyers continuing to snap up first-time buyer-friendly homes in this fashionable neighbourhood. In fact, the sales volumes of Leith’s two-bed flats were 24.4% higher than during April-June 2023, indicating significant rises in demand for this type of property.

“In terms of properties coming onto the market, Dunfermline was where the highest volume of insertions could be found, followed by Leith and Corstorphine.

“The speed of sale is another important factor to consider when looking at the overall market conditions, with the levels of new property listings playing into this. It’s not unexpected to see that, with so many more properties coming onto the market, selling times slow down as buyers enjoy more time to view the increasing numbers of properties available to them. During April-June, properties for sale had a median selling time of 23 days, which is four days slower than last year but still shows that on the whole, homes are selling just over three weeks after coming onto the market, which is a very healthy pace for sellers to enjoy. As can be expected, there is plenty of variation depending on the areas we look at; in West Fife & Kinross, for example, homes sold the fastest overall, going under offer in 18 days. Houses seemed to move particularly swiftly; three-bedroom houses in the sought-after Edinburgh suburbs of Currie, Balerno and Juniper Green were the quickest-sellers in the Capital, going under offer in 13 days, but the overall winner was two-bedroom houses in Dunfermline, with a median selling time of only nine days – five days quicker than the same time last year.”

“Closing dates are a good indicator of how the market performs in each individual area, as we can gauge the general levels of demand – although of course, this can be affected by an especially outstanding property generating huge levels of interest in any given area. Over the past few months, we’ve seen rates of closing dates fall in correlation to the rising volumes of properties coming onto the market, and this is once again the case in our latest figures. Across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders, 23.4% of properties for sale went to a closing date, which is 4% less than the same time last year and very indicative of the climate with so many properties coming onto the market.

“Overall, the market throughout April-June offers much to be positive about once more. The market is healthy and busy, with solid volumes of insertions and sales, while we’re seeing some consistency in average selling prices that help to make the market easier to navigate. As ever, I would always recommend speaking to your local ESPC solicitor estate agent if you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders, to get the most up-to-date and informed local knowledge and advice.”

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