The UK Towns Forced to Drop Asking Prices

According to new research released by Zoopla, more and more house sellers are being forced to drop their asking prices by 7.1% or £18,500 on average. Good news for first-time buyers, not so good if you are selling a property.

2 out of 5 (38.6%) of all properties currently for sale in Britain have had their asking prices decreased at least once since being put up for sale.  This figure has risen from 37% 3 months ago and is well ahead of last year’s figure of 32%.

Even properties in a more resilient market have been subjected to reduced asking prices.  Our of all 1m+ properties currently on the market, 27% have had their asking price dropped at least once.  This figure is up from 25% only 3 months ago and again, the figure is higher than the 22% reported this time last year.

The hardest hit area was the North with sellers in the Bolton area experiencing the biggest reductions.  Many were forced to drop their asking price by 8.6% on average.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne (8.2%) and Glasgow (8.2%) also experienced significant drops, with Liverpool close behind.

Equally, the South-East hasn’t escaped harm, but has experienced less reductions.  Properties in Chelmsford (5.5%), for example, had the lowest average price reductions.  London (6.3%) and Croydon (5.6%) also suffered.

London has the lowest selection of reduced-price properties in the UK (32.4%) and this shows its relative detachment from the rest of the housing market.  Stockport experienced almost half (47.8%) of all homes for sale have had their prices reduced since being put up for sale, closely followed by Chesterfield (45.8%) and Huddersfield (46.3%).

Nicholas Leeming, business development director of Zoopla.co.uk, said: “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.”