The first three months of 2021 saw the volume of property sales in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders rise by 55.7% compared to the previous year.
In Edinburgh, the sales volume was up by 72.6% compared to the previous year, according to the ESPC.
This reflects how busy the market was in the second half of 2020, it said.
The LBTT holiday coming to an end on March 31 may also have had an impact, as buyers and solicitors looked to complete purchases before that date to take advantage of the saving.
Over the past three months, the number of new homes coming to market is very similar to last year, up by just 0.1%. In Edinburgh, there was a larger increase of 6.4%.