House Price Report March 2020
Property market data – key points
- Over the first three months of 2020, the average selling price in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders was £240,689, a 1.6% increase on the previous year.
- Sales volume over the last three months in these areas has decreased by 9.2% compared to last year.
- The number of homes coming to market has decreased by 8.4% year-on-year.
- The median time for a property to be placed under offer over the past three months was 27 days, two days faster than last year.
- From January to March 2020, the average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved was 102.4% which was the same as last year.
Quicklinks
Sales volume and homes coming to market
Average property selling prices rise in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders
Average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved
Property selling times in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders
Strong start to 2020 for property sales and insertions is impacted by COVID-19 outbreak
House Price Report infographic
Sales volume and homes coming to market
In the first quarter of 2020, the volume of residential property sales in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders fell by 9.2%. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and resultant social distancing measures, the decline in sales volume was concentrated in the last two weeks of March.
The number of homes coming to market has also decreased by 8.4% year-on-year. Similarly, this decline was concentrated in the last two weeks of March. In Edinburgh, there was a 16.9% decrease in sales volume and a 10.2% decline in volume of property listings year-on-year.
Average property selling prices in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders
However, average property selling prices have so far remained relatively steady. Over the first quarter of 2020, the average property selling price in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders was £240,689, which was a 1.6% increase compared to the previous year.
In Edinburgh, the average property selling price was £258,685, which was a 2% increase compared to the previous year. Properties in the north of the city saw the greatest increase in average selling price which rose by 5%, while properties in the north west saw the greatest decrease in average selling price, falling by 6.3%.
In some areas outwith the city, there were some significant changes to the average property selling price compared to the previous year. The average property selling price in West Fife & Kinross was £177,053, a 12.2% increase compared to the previous year, while there was an 8.6% increase in the Dunfermline average selling price. Properties in West Lothian saw average selling prices increase by 10.2%. The average property selling price in the Borders decreased by 6.3% year-on-year.
In other areas, average property selling prices remained similar to the previous year. In East Lothian and Midlothian, there was a 1% and 1.9% increase respectively. In East Fife, there was a 0.8% increase.
View our house price table to see the average property selling price in different areas.
Average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved
The average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved also remained relatively steady in comparison to last year. Across all areas in the first quarter of 2020, the average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved was 102.4%, the same as last year. In Edinburgh, it was 103.8% compared to 103.7% last year.
Property selling times in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders
In Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders, the median time it took for a property to go under offer over the past three months was 27 days, two days faster than last year. In Edinburgh, this figure was 23 days, four days faster than last year.
Strong start to 2020 for property sales and insertions is impacted by COVID-19 outbreak
Jamie Fraser-Davidson, Business Analyst at ESPC, said: “In the first quarter of 2020, there has been reasonably significant decreases in property sales volume and the number of homes coming to market in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders.
“These declines were concentrated in the last fortnight of March, caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK and resultant social distancing measures.
“However, during this three month period, average property selling prices and the average percentage of property valuation achieved have remained relatively steady compared to last year.”
Paul Hilton, CEO of ESPC, said: “As expected, the current social distancing measures have impacted the volume of property sales and number of homes coming to market. Prior to the last two weeks of March, we were seeing a strong start to the year, both in terms of sales and instructions.
“We expect overall market activity to be much lower than usual for this time of year while these measures are in place. However, since the commencement of social distancing and the daily restrictions on everyday lives, some of our firms are still reporting that they are receiving offers on properties, often over the Home Report valuation. This indicates that confidence remains in what has historically been a very resilient marketplace.”
Craig Forster, Partner at McDougall McQueen, said: “In the last two weeks , despite the temporary closure of many of our branches as a result of the social distancing measures imposed, our teams , who are operating remotely, have continued to receive and make a number of offers for properties throughout Edinburgh and the Lothians. Last week we received seven offers for seven different properties in one day alone.”
House Price Report infographic
Download our House Price Report March 2020 infographic.
Find out more
Find out average property selling prices for different areas and property types in our house price table.
Find out what happened in previous months and years in our historical house price data.
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