Kirkcaldy tops house price rises and out-performs rest of Scotland

The Lang Toun out-performed towns across Scotland with a 29% increase - up £45,798 as the cost of an average property jumped from £157,779 to £203,577.

Kirkcaldy’s figures were better than the 23% average recorded across Scotland, according to the data from the Bank of Scotland.

Dunfermline also recorded a significant rise, with property going from £190,087 to £226,481.

The Fife towns did better than Edinburgh (up 12.9%) and Glasgow (13.6%).

At the other end of the spectrum, Ayr’s average house price dropped 1.7% and Inverurie in Aberdeenshire dipped 0.2%.

Kirkcaldy is one of a number of towns which have seen a positive change in the market as people worked from home and opted to invest in bigger homes here as opposed to Edinburgh.

Graham Blair, mortgages director at Bank of Scotland, said: "Unsurprisingly, Edinburgh remains the most expensive place to buy, but its rate of property price inflation was outstripped by a number of locations nearby.

"This is partly due to pandemic-driven shifts in housing preferences as buyers sought bigger properties further from major urban centres.

"We can see this clearly in commuter towns across Scotland, but Fife has been a notable hotspot, with both Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline recording strong house price growth."

Kirkcaldy’s price rise came at a time when demand outstripped supply with fewer houses coming on to the market - and those for sale being snapped up almost straight away.

There is also significant new development at Randolph as more town centre flats coming on to the market.