Posts with tag: asking price reductions

Fall in asking price reductions

Published On: June 22, 2015 at 5:02 pm

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Categories: Property News

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Gone are the days when offering alluring charm to a house vendor could lead to a reduced selling price, according to a new survey.

Research from property portal Zoopla has found that a British home sells for just 6.05% under it’s original asking price. This represents the lowest level in the past five years.

Discounts

Despite the lower discounts, the research found that 31% of homes currently on the market have had their asking price reduced at least once since being originally listed. This alone amounts to in excess of £2bn in reductions from houses and flats currently for sale in the UK.

The top-ten areas of the UK with the highest percentage of property with cut asking prices are in the North of England. Rotherham tops the pile, with 43.6% of all properties listed. Preston (43.2% and Barnsley (42.3%) came in second and third.

Full listings of the top-ten areas with the greatest proportion of homes with asking price reductions were:

Top 10 Areas With Highest Proportion of Asking Price Reductions
Rank Area % of Homes on Market Reduced Average Price Reduction (%) Average Price Reduction (£)
1 Rotherham 43.6% 7.4% £11,193
2 Preston 43.2% 6.8% £14,235
3 Barnsley 42.3% 7.4% £10,331
4 Wolverhampton 41.2% 7.0% £11,236
5 Blackpool 38.9% 9.8% £14,017
6 Chesterfield 38.8% 6.5% £12,494
7 Blackburn 38.6% 7.9% £12,437
8 Wakefield 38.5% 7.2% £14,465
9 Wirral 37.8% 6.4% £15,643
10 Huddersfield 37.2% 6.4% £12,740

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Fall in asking price reductions

Fall in asking price reductions

Bargains

With regards to the areas where the greatest reductions are currently to be found, Blackpool (9.8%), Manchester (8.3%) and Bradford (7.9%) are the best regions for bargain hunters. London (7.4%) also features in the top-ten, with discounts in the capital exceeding £75,000 on average.

The top-ten places with the largest asking price reductions were found to be:

Rank Area Average Price Reduction Average Price Reduction (£) % of Homes on Market Reduced
1 Blackpool 9.8% £14,017 38.9%
2 Manchester 8.3% £15,437 31.2%
3 Bradford 7.9% £11,120 32.2%
4 Blackburn 7.9% £12,437 38.6%
5 Coventry 7.6% £17,317 31.0%
6 Liverpool 7.5% £12,990 34.8%
7 Pontefract 7.5% £12,254 36.9%
8 Rotherham 7.4% £11,193 43.6%
9 London 7.4% £75,154 23.0%
10 Barnsley 7.4% £10,331 42.3%

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‘Buyers may be disheartened by the decrease in the typical discounts on offer but can take cheer from the fact that almost a third are listed today below their original asking price,’ said Lawrence Hall, head of communications at Zoopla. Hall feels that, ‘despite ever-increasing house prices, there is still room for some good, old-fashioned negotiating.[1]

However, he also notes that, ‘one the flip side, vendors can be pretty confident of achieving close to their initial asking price. Zoopla has a unique feature on its website that allows potential buyers to track their original asking prices and subsequent reductions.’[1]

[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/discounts-on-property-at-five-year-low.html