House prices are set to soar in Musselburgh as it prepares to become Scotland’s newest university town.
East Lothian estate agent Rettie has forecast the average house price in the town to increase to more than £230,000 in the wake of the development – well ahead of other properties in the area.
It is thought that the increase in prices will be partly the result of parents buying up property for their university-bound offspring, while buy-to-let investors are also likely to make the most of the captive student market.
Tom Perriam, director at the estate agency, told the Scotsman: "In recent years we have seen an average price growth of around eight to ten per cent in Musselburgh, but with the opening of the university I would expect prices to rise by 20 to 25 per cent between September this year and March 2009."
Meanwhile other Scottish seaside towns have been identified as performing well, with Ayrshire’s Girvan topping the list with a 41 per cent increase in property values in the last year, according to the Halifax.