Fife Q1 Property Market: Was it a buyers’ or sellers’ market?

Are you contemplating moving home in Fife during the next 9 months?

You may be a Fife landlord wondering whether you should grow your portfolio or sell off a few properties? Or you’re a Fife first-time buyer considering if now is the best time to move?

Understanding whether the current property market favours buyers or sellers is key to making the right call. If you follow my regular Fife property market updates, you will know one of the most dependable ways to assess the property market is by observing the percentage of homes marked as “Sold STM” or “Under Offer” compared to the total number of properties on the market.

Let me show that in practice. Let us say there are 600 properties on the market in a town or city, and say 400 of those properties are for sale, fully available to buy. The remaining 200 are under offer or sold stm. The 200 homes sold stm as a percentage of the overall total of 600 gives us a sales percentage of 33%. It is this percentage that gives a good indication of the local property market temperature and who holds the upper hand, i.e., buyers or sellers (or somewhere in between).

This percentage figure acts as a barometer for market conditions and can be analysed using this industry recognised table:

  • Extreme Buyers’ Market (0%-20%)
  • Buyers’ Market (21%-29%)
  • Balanced Market (30%-40%)
  • Sellers’ Market (41%-49%)
  • Hot Sellers’ Market (50%-59%)
  • Extreme Sellers’ Market (60%+)

How Does Fife Compare?

Examining historical data from The Advisory’s website, which has tracked this metric for many years, reveals some key trends for Q1 for the last four years (and for comparison, all the quarters in 2025).

  • Q1 2023 – 46%
  • Q1 2024 – 48%
  • Q1 2025 – 48%
    • Q2 2025 – 58%
    • Q3 2025 – 56%
    • Q4 2025 – 53%
  • Q1 2026 – 59%

So, what does a 59% “Sold STC to total stock” ratio mean for Fife right now?

It places the local Fife market at the upper end of a hot sellers’ market.

For Fife Sellers

Although we are in a good sellers’ market, patience, presentation and accurate pricing still matter. Simply listing your property at a silly price and hoping for the best will not cut it.

The Fife homes that achieve a sale are those that enter the market with the right price from day one, have high-quality photography, floor plans, virtual/video tours and marketing that stretches both online and old school offline.

Overpricing is the fastest way to stall/stop your home move. Of the U.K. homes that do end up selling, those homes that don’t get their asking price reduced (i.e., realistically priced from day 1) are 135% more likely to get a sale agreed on them (compared to those homes that get a price reduction). Also, they will take a third of the time to achieve a sale and are half as likely for that sale to fall through.

To add more weight behind those statistics, if a home hasn’t sold by the 12th week (because it is overpriced), it only has a 14.5% chance of selling.

Finally, if a home has a sale agreed on it within 25 days of it coming onto the market (i.e., it’s realistically priced), it has a 19 out of 20 chance (94%) of reaching exchange & completion (i.e., the homeowner moves). Wait until 100 days to agree a sale and the chances of getting that sale agreed to exchange & completion drops to 11 out of 20 (56%).

Getting the price right at launch is critical. Remember, although 80.72% of the Fife homes that have left Fife estate agents books since the start of 2026 have the owners exchanged and completed (i.e., sold and moved) … the remaining 19.28% (240 Fife homeowners to be exact), withdrew off the market, unsold and not moving to their forever home.

For Fife Buyers

The pace of the market has eased compared to the madness of 2021 and 2022. That gives you breathing space to assess, compare, and homes negotiate a good deal. However, do not mistake calmer for easy. The best Fife homes are still drawing strong interest and hesitation can cost you.

If you want to stand out, be prepared. A mortgage agreement in principle is no longer a nice to have, it is expected. It signals seriousness and gives sellers reassurance. Also, be willing to look slightly outside the obvious hotspots. Some of the best value in Fife is sitting just beyond where everyone else is searching.

Final Thoughts on the Fife Property Market

There is a quiet shift happening. Inflation is edging up again, interest rates are unlikely to fall dramatically in the short term, and the wider economic backdrop remains a little fragile. Yet the property market in Fife is holding steady.

That makes pricing more important than ever. Get it right, and you give yourself a genuine chance. Get it wrong, and the market will quietly move on without you. Yes, you may not achieve the peak prices seen a few years ago. But equally, the home you are buying next will reflect that same reality.

If you are thinking of moving in the next nine months, or simply weighing up your options, let’s have a conversation. And if you are staying put, I would still be interested to hear your view on where the Fife market goes next.

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