A Scottish estate agent has declared it “navigated political and economic unrest” to sell £174 million worth of homes last year, with the average price of houses it sold in Edinburgh up by 1.5% to around £330,000.

Law firm and estate agent Lindsays highlighted a “long hangover” for the property sector arising from former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget in autumn 2022, and flagged the surge in UK interest rates. It made plain its satisfaction with its 2023 sales figures, and declared there were "signs of positivity" in the market.

Lindsays noted that 2023 was the second successive year in which its sales of homes - through its residential property teams based in Edinburgh, Dundee and Perth - had totalled more than £170m.

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It hailed the sales total as a “significant success” in the face of a “long hangover from...Kwasi Kwarteng’s emergency budget of 2022 and of the nervousness caused by rising interest rates and the cost of living”.

The firm also warned that politicians north and south of the Border “should be aware of the impact their decisions have on people and property”.

UK base rates have surged from a record low of 0.1% in December 2021 to 5.25%.

Lindsays said its total number of property sales during the year was “also broadly in line with the previous 12 months”.

Maurice Allan, managing director of Lindsays’ residential property team, said: “These figures are a significant success for us, especially given the turbulence we saw in the market during the first half of the year.

“The consequences of political decisions have a real impact on people’s lives and can be long-lasting. We saw that with the emergency budget and the long hangover which followed for the property sector. It took time for people to work out what the impact of all of that was on their finances, and many delayed making offers on properties as a result, practically shutting down the market.”

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He added: “Yet, over the course of the rest of the year, the market has proven to be fairly resilient. Supply has improved, and good houses continue to sell well. People have adapted to the financial circumstances and regained the confidence to get back into the market.

“We’re not seeing the huge offer prices over valuation that we were post-lockdown, but what we have essentially seen over the past 12 months is a market which has returned to pre-pandemic levels, which is not a bad place to be.”

Mr Allan flagged hopes of a more stable market during the next 12 months, highlighting the growing view that UK base rates have now peaked.

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He said: “While it’s always difficult to predict what might lie ahead, there are genuine signs of positivity.

“The conversations we are having signal a growing belief that interest rates have peaked. With things more stable, many of those who have been sitting on their hands because interest rates were going up and up are now starting to think seriously about doing something in 2024.”

Lindsays’ Edinburgh-based team, which operates mainly throughout the capital and the Lothians, sold £106.3m worth of houses during 2023.

A further £67.9m worth of residential properties were sold through Lindsays’ Dundee-based team, which covers the City of Discovery, Angus and Perthshire.

A spokesman for Lindsays noted 2023 was a record year for the value of homes sold in and around Edinburgh by the law firm.

In 2022, the value of homes sold by Lindsays totalled £177m, with the Edinburgh-based team accounting for £102.5m of these sales.

Lindsays expanded last year through its biggest-ever merger, with Miller Hendry. This brought Miller Hendry’s estate agency services in Perth, Dundee and Crieff into the operations, Lindsays noted.