Page 12 - February 2023
P. 12

THE PROPERTY MARKET


           The House Price Report: January 2023                                             Borders increased by 5.6% year-on-year to
                                                                                            £284,614 in November 2022-January 2023.  140
             We take a closer look at how the property market performed in
                                                                                            The City of Edinburgh saw average property   solicitor estate agents
            January 2023 and consider the impact of recent interest rate rises.             selling prices rise to £302,073. Following high   ready to help you buy and sell homes
                                                                                            demand for properties in the past year, one
           he period of November 2022-January   Between November 2022 and January 2023,     and two-bedroom properties were popular with   Over
           2023 was a challenging period in the   new property listings in Edinburgh, the   Edinburgh buyers.                        2000
       Tproperty market due to changes to   Lothians, Fife, and the Borders were down by                                             homes for sale
       the financial market, the rising cost of living   4% year-on-year.                   Many out-of-town areas saw rises in average
       and the energy crisis.                                                               selling prices, with two-bed flats in Joppa and   520,000
                                          There was a significant rise in new property      Portobello increasing to £304,460 and three-
       On  2  February, the  Bank  of England   listings in areas beside the sea - South    bedroom houses in South Queensferry and   My ESPC emails sent during January
       announced a rise in interest rates by half a   Queensferry, Portobello and Musselburgh.  Dalmeny rising to £312,458.
       percentage point to 4% which will increase
       mortgage payments for homeowners on   Sales volumes across Edinburgh, the            In November 2022-January 2023, 85% of
       tracker mortgages who will pay about £49   Lothians, Fife and the Borders reduced by   properties sold for their Home Report valuation   However, as the  latest ESPC data shows, the
       more a month. Those on standard variable   15.7% annually. Comparing property sales in   or higher, with the average property achieving   market in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the
       rate mortgages face a £31 increase.  November 2019-January 2020 to November          105% of Home Report valuation at sale. If we   Borders is robust with strong competition for
                                                                                                                                 properties and 84.9% of properties selling for
                                          2022-January 2023 we see comparable               compare this to the last ‘normal’ year before   their Home Report valuation or higher.”
       The impact of this remains to be seen but   numbers of properties, highlighting that the   the  pandemic,  in  November  2019-January
       there is evidence that the market is returning   market is returning to pre-pandemic levels   2020, when properties achieved 102% of Home
       to pre-pandemic norms. We continue to see   after two years of very high demand.     Report valuation at sale – sellers should get   “We are seeing noticeable demand for areas
       strong interest in home buying and selling                                           some reassurance that the market is continuing   in Edinburgh that are popular with a range of
       with quick selling times and high levels of   The average selling price of property across   to perform well.             buyers. Abbeyhill and Meadowbank have seen
       the Home Report valuation being achieved.  Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife, and the                                         considerable  demand  from  first-time  buyers
                                                                                                                                 while South Queensferry and Dalmeny are
                                                                                            East Lothian properties attained the most   popular with those looking for family homes.”
                                                                                            over Home Report valuation, with properties
                                                                                            achieving 107% of their valuations on average.    “The market appears to be returning to pre-
         Key points  £284,614                                                               Properties in the City of Edinburgh achieved   balanced market for buyers and sellers alike.”

                                                                                                                                 pandemic volumes, which should result in a more
                                                                                            105%  of  their  Home  Report  valuation  on
              average selling price
                                                                                            average.
              The average selling price rose 5.6% year-on-year to £284,614
                                                                                            The median time for properties to go under
                                                                                            offer  was  19  days,  two  days  slower  than  the
              105%                           19 days                                        previous year. Comparing this to the same
                                                                                            period in 2019, homes went under offer in 23
              average percentage of Home     median time to sell                            days in November 2019-January 2020, showing
              Report valuation achieved                                                     activity levels are now very close to those
                                                                                            before the pandemic.
              On average, buyers paid 105% of   The median selling time for
              Home Report valuation, down 1%   properties was 19 days, two days             Paul Hilton, CEO of ESPC, said: “The past three
              annually                       slower than the previous year
                                                                                            months should have been turbulent for the
                                                                                            property market due to rising interest rates, the
                                                                                            cost-of-living crisis and increasing energy bills.

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