Home sellers slash asking prices

Published 03rd Nov 2010

Stagnating housing market sees more than a third of vendors in the UK reduce the asking price of their property


Homeowners are being forced to slash their asking prices as the property market stagnates, according to research published today.

Property website Zoopla.co.uk said more than a third of vendors in the UK (36.4%) had reduced the asking price for their property at least once since August, with the average person knocking 6.1% off the original price – the equivalent of nearly £16,000.

The biggest price reductions have been made by homeowners in northern cities, with those in Manchester reducing their asking prices by an average of 7.15% while those in Newcastle have cut them by 7.13%.

The reductions are being made in response to a shortage of buyers, with many adopting a wait and see approach until the outlook for both the property market and the wider economy become more clear.

Nicholas Leeming, commercial director of Zoopla, said: "For the past few months, asking prices have been somewhat out of kilter with what buyers are prepared or can afford to pay, but sellers are becoming increasingly realistic.

"The traditional new year influx of properties coming to the market for sale will mean even more competition among sellers, and many are keen to try to secure a buyer this side of Christmas and are lowering their expectations accordingly."

The research also showed that half of all sellers in Swindon have reduced their asking prices at least once, as have 47% of people in Norwich and 46% in Bournemouth. More than 40% of sellers have also reduced the amount they are trying to get for their properties in Northampton, Leicester, Poole, Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter and Coventry.

But sellers in the south have made smaller reductions, with people in Poole reducing their asking prices by 5.1% and sellers in London cutting them by 5.2%, although this is still the equivalent of nearly £21,000 and more than £31,000 respectively.

Properties at the top end of the market have seen the biggest reductions, with people selling homes for £1m or more cutting their asking prices by an average of 8% since August.

Many buyers will also have taken note of the wider trend for falling house prices. Earlier this week, property information company Hometrack reported that faltering demand and rising supply pushed the average value of a house down by 0.9% to £156,200 in October, marking the fourth month of falling prices.

Similarly, Nationwide's closely watched monthly house price index showed a 0.7% fall in October, which took the drop over the latest quarter to 1.5% – the biggest decline since spring 2009. Halifax, which has yet to release its October figures, reported its biggest monthly fall on record in September, down 3.6%.

Despite this, Leeming claimed that as sellers lower their prices to meet buyer expectations, "now is a great time for buyers to try to land a bargain".

Source: ' Guardian '

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