House Price Report November 2020
Property market data - key points
- From September to November 2020, the average property selling price in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders rose by 9% year-on-year to £268,923.
- During this period, the average property selling price in Dunfermline rose 19.3% to £184,598.
- Between September and November 2020, the volume of property sales in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders increased by 31.6% compared to last year.
- The number of homes coming to market during this period in these areas rose by 42.1% year-on-year.
- Across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders, the median time for a property to be placed under offer over the past three months was 17 days, four days faster than last year.
- The average percentage of Home Report valuation attained in these areas from September to November 2020 was 104.1% compared to 102.9% last year.
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Average house selling prices in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders
Number of homes coming to market
House selling times in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders
Average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved
Property sales volume increases sharply while selling prices rise
Average house selling prices in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders
Over the past three months, the average property selling price in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders has risen 9% year-on-year to £268,923. Dunfermline properties experienced a significant increase in average selling price compared to last year, rising by 19.3% to £184,598.
A 12.3% increase in the average Home Report valuation in the Fife town in recent months indicates that higher value properties on the market may have been part of the reason for this increase, but shorter selling times and an increase in the average Home Report valuation achieved suggest that increased demand was also a factor.
Properties in the wider West Fife & Kinross area saw a 19% increase in average property selling price compared to last year, while East Fife homes saw an 18.6% rise.
Other areas also saw reasonably strong increases, with Midlothian properties recording an average selling price of £234,778 from September to November 2020, up 14.2% compared to last year. In the Scottish Borders, while the price growth was less pronounced than in our October House Price Report, there was a 12.1% increase year-on-year.
During the past three months, properties in East Lothian and West Lothian saw a year-on-year average price increase of 4.1% and 6.9%, respectively.
In Edinburgh, the property selling price rose to £287,250, a 7.7% increase compared to last year. Two bedroom flats in Portobello and Joppa saw an increase of 13.1% compared to last year, but two bedroom flats in the New Town and the West End saw a 9.6% decrease.
Over the last three months, the average Home Report valuation of two bedroom flats in the New Town and the West End has dipped by 4.8% compared to last year, so lower value properties on the market is a likely factor in this price decrease.
Number of homes coming to market
There is still a significantly higher number of homes coming to market compared to last year. Over the past three months, ESPC noted a 42.1% year-on-year increase in properties listed in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders.
There was a 55.5% increase in Edinburgh homes coming to market.
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Volume of property sales
From September to November 2020, the volume of property sales in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders increased by 31.6% compared to the previous year. This steep increase reflects how busy the market has been in recent months.
The properties with the greatest volume of property sales over the past three months were three bedroom houses in Dunfermline and two bedroom flats in Leith.
House selling times in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders
In Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders, the median time for a property to be placed under offer over the last three months was 17 days, four days faster than last year.
In the Borders, it was 30 days compared to 94 last year, while Edinburgh properties saw median selling times drop to 16 days, three days faster than last year.
Properties in Dunfermline had a median selling time of just 14 days, four days faster than last year.
Average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved
The average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved during the last three months across all areas was 104.1% compared to 102.9%. In Edinburgh, it was 104.9% compared to 104.5% last year.
Two bedroom flats in Portobello and Joppa achieved 106.7% of Home Report valuation on average, up 0.5% compared to last year.
Property sales volume increases sharply while selling prices rise
Paul Hilton, CEO of ESPC, said: “Over the past three months, there has been a significant uptick in property sales volume in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders. This reflects how busy the market has been, with sales that were started back in the late summer and early autumn being completed in the last couple of months.
“Activity is calming down a little in the run up to Christmas in comparison to the exceptional levels seen in summer and autumn, which is to be expected, but our agents have reported remaining very busy for this time of year. This is indicated by the number of new property listings over the last three months, up by over 42% compared to 2019.
“From September to November, the average property selling price in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders rose by 9% year-on-year, but price growth was particularly notable in Dunfermline. This looks to be caused by a combination of increased demand and higher value properties on the market.”
Find out more
Find out average property selling prices for different areas and property types in our house price table.
See data for previous months and years in our historical house price spreadsheet.
Want to find out more about our House Price Reports? Read our House Price Report FAQs.
If you're thinking of buying or selling a property soon, you can make use of our free phone service to be put in touch with a property expert to help answer your questions. Sellers can also get a free property valuation with ESPC agents.
The above statistics are based on properties listed or sold by ESPC agents in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders from September to November 2020 and compared to the same period last year.