The Edinburgh Solicitor and Property Centre reported today that average property prices in Edinburgh have dropped 6.1% for the September to November period compared to a year ago.
Prices for the three month period this year stood at £206,161, down from £219,501 in 2011. The drop marked the fourth consecutive month during which the organisation has recorded a year-on-year decline in the average house price.
The declining trend was also seen in East Lothian with a drop of 7.2% in the average house price to £187,394, and in Midlothian where a 4.3% fall brought the average house price to £163,826. In West Lothian the average selling price of a property in the three months to November was £144,324 – down 7.0% from £155,165 a year ago.
In most areas there has been a slight increase in the percentage of sales where the Home Report valuation has been achieved.
In Edinburgh, 22.6% of properties sold over the last three months achieved their valuation – up from 21.6% a year ago.
Across the rest of the Lothians 16.7% of sales were completed at or above valuation compared to 15.6% last year. Despite this modest improvement, the ESPC says market conditions continue to favour those who are looking to buy and properties are currently selling for an average of 5.1% less than their valuation.
“The number of people looking to sell is greater than the number who are in a position to buy meaning that buyers are generally able to negotiate a selling price that is a few percentage points below Home Report valuation," said David Marshall, business analyst with ESPC.
“Smaller properties remain less likely to achieve valuation than larger family homes. Just 17% of one bedroom flats sold in Edinburgh over the last three months achieved valuation compared to over 30% of houses with three or more bedrooms."
He added: “As you would expect, the likelihood of achieving valuation declines the longer a property spends on the market meaning that the best advice for sellers in most cases is to make sure they don’t set their initial asking price too high to avoid deterring potential buyers.”