Edinburgh is the most in demand place to live in the UK, beating the likes of Croydon, London and Glasgow, new research shows.
According to property website Zoopla, properties listed for sale in Edinburgh receive 145% more interest from prospective buyers than the average property listing in Britain.
Croydon came in second place with 104% more demand than the average property listing in Britain over the past 12 months.
Central London and Glasgow are behind with 77% and 67% more interest than the average British property listing.
Zoopla analysed the volume of email enquiries sent by house hunters to estate agents listing homes for sale on the website over the past year.
Data from the Zoopla keyword search tool revealed that buyers in Edinburgh and Croydon are keen on properties with a garage, whiles freehold is the most important keyword criteria for those looking to buy in Central London.
In Scotland, house hunters appear to be searching for a waterside property as the most popular keyword search term for the region is ‘sea’.
Regionally, Greater London is the most in demand area, followed by Scotland, while the North East appears to be the nation’s least in demand region.
A closer look at the English capital reveals that Barking and Dagenham is the most sought-after London borough, followed by Bexley and Hounslow.
In contrast, leafy Richmond upon Thames sits at the bottom of the borough index, as homes in the area receive 35% less interest than the London borough average.
Lawrence Hall, spokesperson for Zoopla, said: “This new set of figures gives us valuable insight into which areas of the British property market are most ‘in demand’. It’s interesting to see Edinburgh outranking London, which perhaps reflects a cooling in the property market for central London.
“It’s no surprise that we see high demand for properties in the outer London suburbs, such as Croydon, as they prove to be an affordable alternative for buyers.”
Top 10 most in demand towns
| Index ranking | Post town | Volume of enquiries versus national average of 100% | Average asking price (April 2017) |
| 1 | Edinburgh | 245% | £270,991 |
| 2 | Croydon | 204% | £375,152 |
| 3 | London | 177% | £778,530 |
| 4 | Glasgow | 167% | £180,151 |
| 5 | Leicester | 156% | £216,230 |
| 6 | Birmingham | 155% | £185,825 |
| 7 | Swansea | 142% | £166,838 |
| 8 | Reading | 139% | £424,388 |
| 9 | Milton Keynes | 133% | £298,621 |
| 10 | Coventry | 132% | £193,264 |
| Zoopla April 2017 |
Bottom 10 most in demand towns
| Index ranking | Post town | Volume of enquiries versus national average of 100% | Average asking price (April 2017) |
| 1 | Preston | 45% | £183,584 |
| 2 | Wigan | 49% | £155,946 |
| 3 | Newport | 49% | £164,126 |
| 4 | Warrington | 49% | £204,592 |
| 5 | Doncaster | 52% | £151,108 |
| 6 | Telford | 52% | £170,232 |
| 7 | York | 52% | £278,499 |
| 8 | Chesterfield | 54% | £170,634 |
| 9 | Stockport | 56% | £247,079 |
| 10 | Derby | 59% | £195,268 |
| Zoopla April 2017 |
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