Scottish home buyers are prepared to pay more than £9,000 above the advertised price of a property, according to a new report.

The latest quarterly house price report published by s1homes.com reveals that the average selling price of a property in Scotland is £175,967 – typically six per cent above the asking price of around £166,792.

Fresh figures also show that flats are the most desirable property type, normally selling for £25,000 above the asking price, followed by terraced houses which sell for £21,000 more, and semi-detached houses which sell for £7,000 more.

However, data shows that owners of detached homes tend to struggle to sell their properties at the price advertised – with properties typically going for £25,000 less than the initial asking price. The average price of a detached home was £257, 918 – 9% less than the asking price of £283, 378.The report refers to the difference between what sellers hope to sell their properties for and the price they actually achieve as the Reality Gap.

Martin Devlin, head of sales at s1homes, said: “The confidence from buyers is igniting the demand for property in Scotland, reflected in the fact that most properties are selling over the asking price. However, in some tiers of the market, sellers need to be able to justify, and be realistic about, their asking price and expectations.”

Glasgow, Dunbartonshire and Edinburgh continue to be hot spots, with properties typically selling for £22,000 and £23,000 above their asking price.

Commenting on Glasgow’s performance, Barry Chuwen, director of MQ Estate Agents, said: “The second quarter of 2018 continues to be very positive with sales regularly exceeding home report values throughout the various districts, with a constant need for properties as the enquiry levels exceed availability of stock often resulting in closing dates. 2018 expectations are for another very productive year with excellent sales prices and swift turnaround times.”

Pauline Smith, senior property manager from Watt Properties, said that the Edinburgh market showed no sign of slowing down. She said: “Edinburgh’s property market continues to strengthen with a 1.78% increase in the average asking price and the amount of properties available increasing. This is reflected in the average selling price having stayed fairly constant in 2018. A busy summer is indicating that demand for properties in Edinburgh remains buoyant.”

Other parts of the country fared less well. In Argyll & Bute, East Renfrewshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire, East Lothian and Falkirk, buyers can pay less than the average asking price.

Eric Curran, managing partner of chartered surveyor firm DM Hall and former chairman of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS Residential Property Professional Group board, advised sellers to be realistic about the price they wished to market their homes for, adding: “Surveyors are looking to manage the expectations of sellers. The problem with the property market is that there are so many micro markets. It all depends on the different types of regional markets.

“The bottom line if you are looking to sell a property is to maintain your property, present it as well as you can, and to make sure it’s marketed properly at a sensible price. If you market a property at a price people are going to like, If you market a property at a price that’s too high, it will sit for a long time on the market and people start to wonder what’s wrong with it. If you market it at a sensible price and you get people to look at it, you build up demand. Somebody will want to purchase it, rather than just see it.”

“Sellers have the opportunity to sell their homes at a premium price. There’s no certainty – you really don’t know until you test the market.”

Mr Curran said there was less demand for detached properties because of affordability. The Scottish House Price report compares the asking prices of over 20,000 properties for sale on s1homes with the actual prices achieved.