Median price at August 2008: £219,124

General increase since Sept 2007: -1%

Projected increase to Sept 2009: 0-2%

Five-year increase: 51% (£145,188)

Ten-year increase: 185% (£76,943)

The complete Edinburgh West price guide

Playing host to the modest locales of Dalry and Saughton, as well as the more upmarket Corstorphine, Edinburgh West is where many in the capital take their first hesitant steps on to the property ladder.

The affordability barometer that is the one-bed Gorgie flat hit £130,000 last year, putting it beyond the reach of the averagely-paid, single, first-time buyer — but affordability is the least of would-be buyers’ problems in a year that has seen tightened lending criteria kill the market stone dead.

“It is tougher for first-time buyers this year — even though prices aren’t rising for flats,” says John Christie, partner with surveyor Graham & Sibbald. “Now the talk is of harsh loan-to-value ratios and the need to raise a 10% deposit to secure a good mortgage rate. For many single workers that could amount to the equivalent of one year’s wages.

“There’s not a lot of sunshine on the horizon. We need liquidity in the mortgage market. Lenders have become too publicity averse; having been accused of irresponsible lending over the last decade, they have gone too far in the opposite direction.”

Christie believes there are good buys to be had if you can get funds, and for those with an existing portfolio there is definitely rental demand from workers at The Gyle shopping centre and Royal Bank of Scotland headquarters, the main employers in the area.

Last year we predicted another uplift of 8%-10% capital growth, but as the market has gone flat, prices have stagnated and in some cases fallen this year.

The ESPC claims a year-on-year fall of 6.5% has taken the average price of property in Edinburgh to £201,517 (a bit less than our quoted HBOS figure).

It adds: “Sales volumes remain constrained, down by 60% on August 2007 levels, and vendors are now displaying an increasing willingness to reach agreement with buyers in negotiations by lowering expectations on selling prices.”

If you can find the funds, there are deals to be done; if you can’t, it could be a frustrating year as you see an endless procession of affordable properties drift by that still remain out of your reach as a result of lenders’ caution.

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