ESPC data covering February-April 2024 reveals that across the core areas, average selling prices of properties experienced marginal increases and decreases that hovered around 2%.

All areas recorded an average selling price of £269,963, marking a 1.5% increase from the preceding year.

Edinburgh was the most expensive area in which to buy a property, with average selling prices reaching £285,585 (an increase of 1.8% year-on-year).

Meanwhile, the Borders was the most affordable place, with property prices sitting at £207,593 on average, a decrease of 1.8% compared to February-April 2023.

Digging deeper into specific areas, the well-heeled Edinburgh suburb of Fairmilehead was the most expensive neighbourhood to buy a home, with properties here selling for an average of £471,549. Conversely, the cheapest location was the Borders town of Galashiels, where a home could be snapped up for £134,223 on average.

Examining Edinburgh’s property market in closer detail, the South of the city was the most expensive place in the city to buy a home, at £363,053 on average, while the West offered the most affordable properties, selling for £192,508.

Looking at particular property types, two-bedroom flats in Leith, The Shore and Granton were especially sought-after, with prices rising 9.8% annually to £248,337.

Alongside this, three-bedroom houses in popular, family-friendly suburbs also experienced significant increases in selling prices – in Liberton and Gilmerton, the average selling price for a three-bedroom house leapt 24% to £325,984.

The most affordable property type on the market was two-bedroom flats in Dunfermline, with an average selling price of £114,037. Interestingly, the city of Dunfermline experienced a sharp rise in prices over this period – the average selling price overall was £200,455, which is 6.6% higher than the same time last year.

Buyers continued to make the most of a highly saturated property market during February – April 2024, as they were able to secure properties closer to the Home Report valuation.

Continuing a trend seen over the last few months, buyers paid 101.6% of the Home Report valuation on average, which is 1.1 percentage points less than in February – April 2023.

Overall, all the reported areas experienced a decline in the amount over the Home Report valuation buyers were willing to offer. Buyers paid the highest premium to live in Edinburgh, with the average successful bid sitting at 102% of the valuation figure, which is 0.8% less than the same time last year.

However, there was huge variation in the trends within the Capital: in the City Centre, properties attained 99.9% of the Home Report valuation on average (1.7 percentage points down on last year), while in the West of the city, buyers bid 108.1% of the valuation on average, which is 5.7 percentage points higher year-on-year. Perhaps with Edinburgh West offering cheaper average selling prices overall, buyers had to offer higher bids in order to secure properties.

Buyers could pick up a bargain in West Lothian, with homes attaining 99.8% of their valuation figure on average, 1.5 percentage points less than last year.

These figures are reflected in the overall data, which shows that 69.1% of homes for sale during February - April 2024 sold for at least their Home Report valuation, which is down from 77% in February – April 2023.

The average selling time during this period for Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders was 33 days, which is six days slower than the same time last year.

Homes in West Fife and Kinross sold the quickest, taking 22 days to go under offer, although this is also six days slower than February – April 2023. Properties in the Borders were the slowest to sell, going under offer in 42 days, which is ten days slower year-on-year.

The quickest-selling properties were two-bedroom flats in Bonnington, and one-bedroom flats in Leith, which had median selling times of 16 days (a year-on-year decrease of 12 days and four days respectively), showing how in-demand these areas are.

Paul Hilton, CEO of ESPC, said: “The data for the period of February-April is consistent with what we’ve been seeing over the past few months, and it hints that this will continue well into the summer.

“Overall, we’re seeing a huge influx of properties coming onto the market (up 37% in April alone versus last year), perhaps as a result of fixed mortgage terms coming to an end and homeowners deciding to move on to a new home, rather than absorb a higher cost in their existing property.

“This is teamed with lower numbers of buyers in the market, meaning that for the buyers that are ready and able, they can enjoy a huge variety of options to choose from that the market hasn’t offered in a long time.

“While this means slower selling times and lower bids, with less of a need to pay a premium to secure a home, sellers appear to remain confident in the market and are continuing to list their homes in high numbers, as well as choosing to list their homes using the ‘offers over’ marketing method.”