House prices soar as sales rise by third

HOUSE prices in the Capital have soared in the past year as the number of properties sold rose by almost a third.

New figures show that the value of the average property in East Central Scotland rose sharply from 191,095 during the second quarter of 2009 to 212,921 in the same period this year.

A report by Santander also revealed that Edinburgh is now home to 1665 homes valued at more than 1 million - up from just 16 ten years ago.

Across Britain, there are now more than 130,000 homes in the same elite category.

However, experts expect price inflation to start to cool later this year as the number of houses coming on the market begins to rise.

Nigel Lewis, property analyst at PrimeLocation.com, said: "It's amazing how fast million-pound-plus property prices have recovered since the dark days of mid-2008."