PROPERTY prices in West Fife are on the up according to latest figures.

The ESPC Home Report for October has revealed that the average cost of a home in Dunfermline went up by 16.2 per cent – to £189,562 – compared to last year.

It was good news in the West Fife and Kinross area too with the average selling price rising by 14.3 per cent to £192,529.

From August to October 2020, the average property selling price in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders was £270,983, up 7.9 per cent compared to the 2019 figure.

The top-selling properties by sales volume over the last three months were three-bedroom houses in Dunfermline as well as one-bedroom flats in Leith.

Over the past three months, the number of homes coming to market rose by 44.4 per cent while the volume of property sales was down 5.6 per cent compared to last year – however, this has been put down to delays caused after lockdown. The districts with the greatest volume of new listings were Dunfermline, Leith and Corstorphine.

The average percentage of Home Report valuation achieved during this period was 104.1 per cent compared to 103 per cent.

There has been a drop in selling time for properties in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders compared to last year. The median time for a property to be placed under offer over the last three months is 18 days compared to 21 days last year.

Paul Hilton, CEO of ESPC, said the past three months had been exceptionally busy for this time of year.

“We are still seeing far more houses and flats coming to market year-on-year, along with strong competition for many of those homes,” he said.

“While activity is generally much higher than usual for this time of year, we are seeing some month-on-month cooling in certain activities such as viewing requests and Home Report downloads. However, this is to be expected as we approach a typically quieter time of year for the property market.

“We are pleased that the Scottish Government has confirmed house moves will be permitted across all five tier protection levels, provided the necessary guidance is followed. Our agents have reported that buyers and sellers are adhering to the current guidance well and staying safe while moving.”