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News: 1 in 3 UK homes discounted for Christmas, say Zoopla

Fri, 19 Dec 14


The proportion of homes with their asking prices lowered at least once since coming to the market is markedly up from 27 per cent in early 2014, as the UK housing market continues to cool. Indeed, this is the highest proportion of discounting since August 2012, according to research from property portal Zoopla.

The average price reduction has also grown since the start of the year, with asking price reductions now at 6.7 per cent on average off the initial asking price (equivalent to £24,429), up from 6.3 per cent (£20,781) in February 2014. A total of £3.8bn has been knocked off the original asking prices of properties currently on the market, creating some potential bargains.

Preston has the highest proportion of price reductions in the country, with over four in ten properties having had their asking price lowered since first coming to the market. This is closely followed by the Yorkshire towns of Barnsley, Wakefield and Rotherham (all 43 per cent).  However, it is not just in the north of England where sellers are resetting their expectations. The largest discounts currently are to be found in affluent Mitcham in south-west London where sellers have dropped prices by 9.2 per cent on average, equal to a hefty £55,606.

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla comments: "The property market typically slows in December as buyers postpone their plans until the New Year and become pre-occupied with the festive season, but these figures suggest that sellers may be being forced to rest their expectations and become more realistic in order to secure a buyer. People are well attuned to a bargain at this time of year, so home-buyers may want to capitalise on the latest raft of reductions.

"The recent Stamp Duty reforms have injected a real feel-good factor into the property market that is likely to last into January when there will be a renewed surge in buyers looking for property. There would usually be an air of uncertainty in the lead up to an election, but the positivity created by the tax overhaul should ensure this isn’t as keenly felt as usual."

The figures follow a wave of indices all reporting a significant cool-down in the UK property market in the second half of 2014. According to Home.co.uk, 2015 will be a "more consistent" year for UK property prices than 2014, with the average price set to rise less quickly.


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