Two in five sellers slash asking prices

Sellers have been forced to reduce prices by an average of £18,597 (7.13%) over the last year in an effort to attract buyers, according to new data from Zoopla.

 The average price reduction is now £2,200 more than one year ago when the average discount was 6.1%.The research reveals that a north-south divide continues to widen as sellers in the North are being forced to reduce asking prices by much more than their counterparts in the south. Northern towns and cities dominate the list of places with the highest average price reductions.

 Bolton is suffering the most, with original asking prices being reduced by 8.6% on average, closely followed by Glasgow and Newcastle-upon-Tyne averaging 8.2%.

 Properties in the south, and particularly the South-East, have fared much better, with Chelmsford leading the charge with reductions of only 5.5%. More prominent South-East areas have been able to curb reducing prices, with average reductions in London at 6.3% and Croydon only needing to reduce prices on average by 5.8%.

 London has the lowest proportion of price-reduced homes in the UK (32.4%), serving to emphasise its detachment from the rest of the market. Meanwhile, in Stockport, nearly half (47.8%) of all properties for sale have been reduced in price since coming onto the market, closely followed by Huddersfield (46.3%) and Chesterfield (45.8%).

 Nicholas Leeming, business development director with Zoopla, says: “Vendors continue to have to lower prices due to weak buyer demand. Sluggish economic growth has hit buyer confidence and tight-fisted lenders are currently making it impossible for swathes of would-be buyers to benefit from the price reductions. For those who can get mortgages, now is as good a time as there has been in over a year to bag a property bargain.”