They say a day’s a long time in politics, and, well, a quarter is a long time in property.
Welcome to your Edinburgh Self Storage Property Review for autumn 2025.
It’s perhaps more proceed with caution, based on figures from July to September 2025, rather than fireworks, but sellers are still finding buyers, and while house prices have climbed, it looks like rental growth has slowed somewhat.
When it comes to commercial offices, and with a steady migration back to the office post-pandemic, it seems a more selective approach is emerging, as growth reflects a search for better quality spaces.
Let’s dig a wee bit deeper here.
The residential property market
The headline news is that during July to September 2025, in Edinburgh, The Lothians, Fife, and the Borders, the average property price stood at £298,933, up 4.3% year-on-year.
New property listings slipped 5.1% while sales volumes grew by 8.0%. Properties continued selling close to or above Home Report values, and, on average, properties commanded 102.4% of their Home Report valuation, up 0.1 percentage points on the same time last year.
Two little ducks, 22 – also the median selling time in days for property (no change on July – September 2024), while 22.5% of homes went to a closing date, up from 22.0% last year.
City of Edinburgh
Average house prices in the capital rose by 3.3% – creating a new average of £315,847.
Home movers proved just as price sensitive here as well as on the hunt for good schools and transport links, rather than snapping up any old property and making do simply based on the kudos of prime location alone.
In Edinburgh East, properties achieved a whopping 103.6% of their valuation.
In Leith Links, it was 106.4% of the Home Report valuation, with 105.7% in Bonnington, and 104.8% in Abbeyhill.
Edinburgh City as a whole increased by 0.1 percentage points to an average of 102.6%.
West Fife & Kinross
There was tepid growth in West Fife & Kinross. Prices rose by 3.4% to £230,082.
Properties were snapped up at an average of 103.8% of the Home Report valuation – up 0.5 percentage points on the previous year.
East Lothian
East Lothian’s coastal commuter towns boasted double-digit rises as buyers prioritise quality of life and more space for their money, while also not being too far out on a limb from the city.
There was a 0.4% decrease in percentage points, but East Lothian still achieved average selling prices above the Home Report Valuation.
We likewise saw year-on-year increases in average selling prices of 17.2%, taking the new average to £328,016.
The number of sales of spacious family homes with upwards of three bedrooms, particularly in Dunbar, Haddington, and North Berwick, helped fuel this boost.
Midlothian
Midlothian’s average property price improved by 2.3% to £273,011, while in East Fife, the average selling price dropped 4.8% to £282,628.
Its annual increase of 1.1 percentage points, the largest, took the new average percentage of Home Report valuation to 102.4%.
The best bargains were in East Fife. Properties here attained 99.8% of their valuation figure on average.
Dunfermline
As in previous property reports, property hotspot Dunfermline always makes for interesting reading.
There was a surge of 13.9% in the average selling price here, to £242,462, with a particular demand for four-bedroom dwellings. The average price was up by 10.5% to £346,363, and sales volumes grew by 26.5%.
West Lothian
Properties in West Lothian witnessed an average value rise of 9.2%, to £288,362.
Despite a decrease in percentage points of 0.8, it still witnessed average selling prices above the Home Report valuation. Sellers achieved 100.8% north of the home valuation, in fact.
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders took home the title of most affordable place to buy. Between July – September 2025, the average selling price was £219,592, a year-on-year decline of 9.0%.
But this area rose by 0.1 percentage points to an average of 100.2% above the Home Valuation Report.
Rents and lettings
With rents in Scotland hiking up every year, it’s interesting to see a deceleration in the pace.
Figures suggest that rental inflation has eased compared to its peak in 2023, and while income remains supportive of landlord investment, carefully selecting property and tenant criteria rather than blindly chasing yields seems to be what’s happening here.
From the tenant side of the fence, slightly softer upward pressure on rents and greater choice in certain areas as new lets appear.
Meanwhile, for buy-to-let investors, the focus seems to be more on well-appointed family homes and high-quality flats where demand is higher.
Buyer behaviour
On average, between July and September 2025, buyers paid 102.4% of the valuation figure, 0.1 percentage points up on the last year. In terms of those properties that sold for at least their Home Report value, there was a 0.5% increase year on year.
It’s been a turbulent time in mortgage markets, but things aren’t such a maelstrom this weather. Mainstream deals in the 4 to 5% range are helping a steady stream of deals to materialise.
But activity seems to be plateauing rather than imploding, despite what the naysayers and doom mongers might have us all believe.
Reduced activity is evident in high-value homes, as buyers wait for policy clarity, and this may explain a general shift in the direction of a more cautious approach.
Commercial property
The figures are a wee bit patchy here, but promising nevertheless. Office leasing activity improved in H1 2025, with a robust take-up for the city, driven by a need to upgrade or consolidate into more central locations.
Investors seem to be favouring refurbishment or repositioning assets to meet ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) and hybrid working environments.
Meanwhile, it’s a location-specific story for retail and hospitality. Where there’s leisure and food/drink offerings on a high street, it tends to outperform generic retail pockets.
Fewer homes, but still a lot of choice
Despite a 5.1% decline in the number of homes entering the market between July – September 2025 compared to the previous year, buyers still enjoyed a fair selection of properties to choose from.
This slight drop likely stimulated competition, leading to more homes going to a closing date and buyers forking out more of a premium.
And finally, there were 83.3% of homes listed using the ‘offers over’ pricing structure, an increase of 75.5% the previous year.
Sources:
ESPC
Zoopla
ONS
Gov.co.uk
JLL
