PRICES of properties in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders are up 6% from this time last year.
The average selling price in these areas was £286,443 during December 2024 to February 2025.
Though these months are typically slower for buying and selling property, prices have increased due to strong demand as shortages of housing continue to impact Scottish cities.
West Fife and Kinross saw one of the highest rises in average selling price, from around £214,000 to £229,263.
The Scottish Government announced a housing crisis in May last year, as more and more people have been forced to seek temporary accommodation.
These pressures resulted in the council granting emergency HMO licenses to properties housing homeless people, allegedly flouting their own health and safety regulations.
Comparing December to February with the same time last year, both Edinburgh City Centre and Edinburgh North recorded increases in the double digits – 14.7% and 11.1% respectively.
In particular, Comely Bank rose by 31.5% to an average selling price of £371,493.
Last month, Shelter Scotland revealed that there are more children in temporary accommodation in Edinburgh than in the whole of Wales.
The lack of housing drives up prices particularly during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, when swathes of visitors and performers seek a place to stay for the month.
ESPC, who post monthly house price reports for Scotland, state that whilst sales volumes have increased by 13.6%, new property listings are down by 4.1%.
They say that Gorgie is increasing in popularity, particularly with young professionals seeking one-bedroom flats.
The same seems to be the case in Leith, where sales volumes for one-bedroom flats have increased by 43.3% year-on-year.
Though the median time to sell Edinburgh is 27 days, high demand means that some areas such as Granton see sales in just two weeks.
