With rising house prices locally in Edinburgh and Midlothian and surrounding areas, buyers out in full force, and new initiatives on the purchase scene, the local property market in East Central Scotland is extremely buoyant.
Our Operations Director, Jenna Spence, reflects on the emerging trends in the local property market after a busy and productive January at Neilsons Solicitors and Estate Agents.
“Edinburgh was recently revealed in January as the top city in the UK for house price inflation over the past twelve months with a considerable increase in sale price of 6.1% and rising. This trend in Edinburgh has been predicted to continue well into 2020.
Over the past few years, properties which are well presented for the sale, accurately priced for the market, and professionally marketed have by and large secured excellent prices with many competitive closing dates.
Whilst naturally there has been discourse surrounding key political events in the UK, Edinburgh and the surrounding areas have – so far – remained largely unaffected. Positively, Edinburgh and the surrounding areas remain highly desirable for buyers and demand has not wavered as evidenced by the positive property market figures.
The market in January has been further boosted by first time buyers who are out in their masses since the Scottish Government released the First Home Fund on 19th December offering successful first-time buyer applicants up to £25,000 towards their first purchase. This is designed to assist first time buyers get a foot on the ladder and alleviates some of the pressures brought on by expensive deposits.
One well known local property portal featured such a flurry of activity in terms of property searches in January that their server needed some attention!
In Neilsons too, we noted a considerable 20% increase on our website user activity in January 2020, compared to January 2019 with huge activity on our property search and property detail pages.
In January, the increase in buyer activity has meant that Neilsons have had their busiest January post-recession.
This is great news for sellers, and I would encourage any sellers to take advantage of the buyer demand now.
Many sellers wait for Spring to sell because they are following traditional “textbook advice” however given the demand and buyers out there now, it makes sense to take advantage. In February, there is also less competition on the market in terms of volume which gives your property a competitive edge – one of a few on the market, as opposed to one of many.
Yesterday, ten new Offers were received for properties on the market with Neilsons and in the past week two properties have sold within just one day for excellent prices. There is great activity in the local property market.
But, what about your purchase?
First time buyers should be assured by the latest fund incentive on the market available to them in Scotland, and other buyers should be assured that there are more properties coming on to the market to cope with the demand as we shortly head into Spring.
In Edinburgh and the local areas, the property market remains buoyant and I would encourage anyone thinking of selling and or buying to take advantage of our free appraisal or consultation to discuss the best possible strategy which will be tailored to your own individual circumstances.”
Are you looking to sell or buy property? Book your free consultation with Neilsons online here!