EDINBURGH accounts for almost half of all house sales in Scotland worth £1 million and over.
A report by estate agents Rettie & Co has found the top end of Scotland's property market can be found in the capital.
Last year, 53 properties valued at more than £1 million changed hands in Edinburgh, compared to 15 in Glasgow.
However, sales are growing fast in Aberdeen and the oil-boom economy of the north-east shows no sign of slowing down.
During 2012, 22 houses valued at more than £1m were sold in the granite city, four more than in 2011.
The vast majority of buyers of at the top end of the market are already located in Scotland, while a large percentage of over- seas buyers have strong Scottish connections or are expatriates.
During 2012, 93 buyers of Scotland's most expensive homes were based north of the Border, while 13 came from elsewhere in the UK and 16 were from overseas.
The report indicates there are encouraging signs of the market strengthening this year, with 10 £1m-plus properties already sold during the past three months in Edinburgh.
Managing director Simon Rettie said: "The £1m-plus housing market has struggled alongside other parts of the housing sales market in recent years.
"However, there has been a notable improvement in market sentiment and confidence from the beginning of January and we believe that the market will rise over the course of the year.
"Typically, only around one in 10 sales of over-£1m houses in Scotland go to an overseas buyer in any given year. Although far from a negligible market, the influence of overseas buyers on this particular housing market has been exaggerated by some."
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