Property sales in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Scottish Borders fell by 10.4% year on year in the three months to October, but average prices did not move, according to ESPC’s latest House Price Report.
The Edinburgh property portal put the average selling price across its regions at £296,731 for August to October 2026, unchanged on the same period in 2025. New listings slipped by just 0.6%, which ESPC read as a sign that sellers are still pressing ahead with moves despite a tougher financial backdrop.
Key figures
- Average selling price across the region: £296,731, no change on a year earlier
- Sales volumes: down 10.4%
- New listings: down 0.6%
- Median time to go under offer: 23 days, one day slower than a year ago
- Home Report valuation achieved: 101.9% on average, down 0.3 percentage points
- Sales going to a closing date: 18.7%, down from 21.5%
Edinburgh
In the capital, the average selling price was £314,200, 0.1% lower than a year earlier. ESPC said city prices had recovered from a dip over the summer and settled close to last autumn’s level.
Sales in Edinburgh dropped 9.8% to 1,770, while new listings rose 2.8%. Homes took a median of 21 days to go under offer, a day quicker than in 2025, and sold for an average of 102.4% of their Home Report valuation. Houses averaged £417,918, up 1.3%, and flats £273,772, up 0.8%.
The balance has tilted away from sellers. Only 21.3% of Edinburgh sales went to a closing date, against 24.1% a year earlier, while 86.0% of homes were marketed at “offers over”, up from 77.3%.
Leith stayed the city’s busiest area for sales even though its volumes fell 6.9%, and homes there achieved 103.1% of Home Report valuation on average. Trinity did better still at 105.1%, up 0.5 percentage points, with homes going under offer in just over 15 days. At the lower end, one-bedroom flats in Gorgie averaged £159,173, while flats in Morningside, Marchmont and Bruntsfield averaged £414,656.
Midlothian and West Lothian buck the trend
Midlothian and West Lothian were the only two regions where average prices rose. In Midlothian the average climbed 3.8% to £279,471, which ESPC said was a record for the August to October period. Bonnyrigg, the area’s top seller, recorded 31.3% more sales of three-bedroom houses than a year earlier, at an average of £265,860.
West Lothian’s average rose 4.7% to £302,706, although sales there fell 17.8%. Winchburgh’s average jumped 23.7% to £355,849, though ESPC cautioned that with so few sales, the mix of homes sold exaggerates the rise.
Falls elsewhere
East Lothian’s average fell 3.9% to £313,530, with sales down 2.4%. East Fife also fell 3.9%, to £278,900, and its sales dropped 32.6%. In St Andrews, still East Fife’s busiest market, homes took a median of 151 days to go under offer, 53 days longer than in 2025, and sold for 93.5% of Home Report valuation.
West Fife and Kinross saw sales fall 27.5%, with the average almost flat at £226,262. The Scottish Borders was the only region where sales rose, up 3.1%, with prices broadly unchanged at £232,180.
Rates weigh on buyers
ESPC said economic uncertainty, higher household costs and speculation about a rise in interest rates had weighed on buyers during the period. Its report notes that the rise has now arrived, with the Bank of England lifting Bank Rate from 3.75% to 4% on 5 November.
Overall, ESPC said the figures described “a market where activity has softened, but property values have largely held their ground”.
ESPC recently named Stockbridge as Edinburgh’s top neighbourhood. More Edinburgh property news.