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Edinburgh bucks the UK property trend

Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, has always had a buoyant property market. Not only is it a beautiful place to live but it now houses the Scottish parliament, is Scotland's financial hub and has several large universities, a thriving tourist market and the internationally acclaimed annual arts festival.

The property market in Edinburgh is not only holding, it is performing. Maurice Allan, of Strutt & Parker in Edinburgh, says sales have been brisk since the start of the year with high numbers of viewers, especially in the £400,000-£1.5m range. It is hardly evidence of a property market in disarray.

'A slowdown in the market is actually good for those people who are looking to buy. Here activity remains extremely buoyant despite the first quarter of the year being the traditionally quieter months. Investors are looking to raise cash, developers are out scouting for new sites, businesses are brokering deals and the banks, surveyors and accountants are being worked flat out,' said William Frame, chairman of Braemore Property Management.

'If we have survived a run of events unprecedented in their concerted attempts to diminish confidence – such as Northern Rock, the credit crunch, bank collapse rumours, the Budget, the see-sawing stock market – I think we can feel secure that the Edinburgh market is pretty resilient,' he added.

One of the key factors is a continued domination of a core group of property investors who will lead Edinburgh's unique rental sector, and who are largely unaffected by the credit crunch.

A few years ago there was a big buzz about the man on the street becoming a buy-to-let investor. But this group never made up a huge part of the market, and also tended to get out pretty quickly, particularly when things got tough.

So that's left a strong core of savvy investors who view property as a long-term store of wealth and as a way of creating capital and financial gain – rather than a way to make a quick buck.

They, like others, will continue to enjoy the benefits of the buy-to-let market, which remains consistently strong due to the fine balance between supply and demand.

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