SCOTTISH property sales exceeded £5 billion in the third quarter of the year, taking average house prices in two areas over £250,000 for the first time, a study has found.

In Edinburgh and East Renfrewshire, the average home now costs more than £250,000, according to research by estate agent Aberdein Considine. The company said the property market in Scotland is enjoying its best spell of growth since the financial crash.

The firm’s Property Monitor shows Scottish property sales, average prices and market values all increased during the third quarter of the year. For the second consecutive quarter, East Renfrewshire recorded the highest average price in Scotland, with an average sale of £261,512.

This figure was up 5.9 per cent on the same time last year. It is just ahead of Edinburgh, where average prices rose 6.6 per cent year-on-year to £257,220.

Perth and Kinross enjoyed a second consecutive quarter of “considerable” growth.

It followed its near-10 per cent price increase in Q2 with a rise of another 6.1 per cent.

The back-to-back increases put the average home price of a home in the region at £203,398, overtaking Aberdeen.

The Granite City, however, recorded its first year-on-year average price increase since the oil and gas downturn, signalling that the market in the north-east is beginning to improve. Aberdeenshire also enjoyed an increase in sale volumes for consecutive quarters.

Jacqueline Law, managing partner at Aberdein Considine, said: “The property market in Scotland is enjoying a spell of growth not seen since the halcyon days prior to the financial crash of 2007/08.

“More than 28,000 homes changed hands during the third quarter of the year, up nearly four per cent on the same period last year and almost 2000 more than in Q2.

“Just under 3500 of these sales came in Edinburgh, the busiest property market in Scotland, with Glasgow a close second.

“And for the first time, Scotland has two areas where the average home will set you back more than a quarter of a million pounds.”