Midlothian house prices dropped in December

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area achieve 13.1 per cent annual growth. The average Midlothian house price in December was £222,873, a 1.2 per cent decrease on November.

Over the month, the picture was better than that across Scotland, where prices decreased 1.8 per cent, but Midlothian underperformed compared to the 0.8 per cent rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property here rose by £26,000 – putting the area 13th among Scotland’s 32 local authorities for annual growth. First-time buyers in Midlothian spent an average of £183,000 on their property – £18,000 more than a year ago and £47,000 more than 2016.

Buyers paid 23.5 per cent more than the average price in Scotland (£180,000) in December for a property in Midlothian. Across Scotland, property prices are high compared to those across the UK, where the average cost £275,000.

The most expensive properties in Scotland were in Edinburgh – £312,000 on average, and 1.4 times as much as more than in Midlothian. Edinburgh properties cost 2.6 times as much as homes in East Ayrshire (£121,000 average), at the other end of the scale.

The highest property prices across the UK were in Kensington and Chelsea.