Activity levels in Edinburgh’s housing market so far this year are definitely up on last year – and it’s not all been down to the absence of snow.

Agents are reporting encouraging signs of a healthy demand for quality housing stock. The good news for first time buyers is that, according to some financial advisers, lenders are beginning to offer mortgages with better rates at lower deposits.

Meanwhile, new research reveals that the expense of moving home is now at its highest level since the peak of the housing market in 2007.

According to a Bank of Scotland study, the cost of moving home in Scotland has risen faster than house prices over the past decade.

For those who already own a home, the average cost associated with moving rose by 69% from £4125 in 2001 to £6972 in 2011, the Bank of Scotland study found. This compares with a 64% rise in house prices over the same period.

It was against this background of rising moving costs that Shepherd launched moveAssist – a new scheme offering customers Home Reports with nothing to pay for three months followed by 12 equal interest free payments.

The only product of its kind currently available to Scottish sellers, Shepherd moveAssist was introduced in the wake of the withdrawal of deferred credit sources to private sellers in the Scottish market following changes to European consumer credit legislation.

Steven McLean, an associate at J&E Shepherd Chartered Surveyors’ Edinburgh office, said: “The reception that moveAssist has received from home sellers has far exceeded all our expectations, though we are not surprised by its popularity.

“After all, when you’re looking to move home the last thing you want to worry about is where to find the money to cover the cost of putting your property on the market for sale and Shepherd moveAsssist makes moving easy.

“The product was developed to provide home sellers with interest free credit to help them bring their homes to the market, making it easier for home movers to seize the opportunities available and help counteract the difficult market conditions that currently prevail.”

Analysis of the hundreds of properties that have been put on the market with help from moveAssist reveals that a majority of the homes in question are valued in excess of the average house price – suggesting that the product is proving particularly popular to homeowners within the mid to upper range of the housing ladder.