The proportion of properties currently on the market with a reduced asking price now stands at 31.5% -“ down from 36.7% a year ago -“ suggesting fewer sellers are feeling pressured to slash their asking price in order to achieve a sale.
Of those homes that have had their price reduced, the average discount to the original asking price across the country is currently 6.9% (£21,000). Romford has seen the biggest price reductions in the UK (10.3%). Blackpool (9.9%) and Swansea (9.8%) complete the top three.
However, all of the top ten areas with the highest proportion of price-reduced properties are in the North. Wigan tops the list, with 42.6% of all properties currently on the market having seen at least one price reduction to their asking price. Barnsley (41.2%) and Rotherham (40.9%) come in not far behind and round out the top three.
At the other end of the spectrum, perhaps unsurprisingly, London has one of the lowest percentages of discounted properties at 26.7%, second only to Swansea where the proportion of discounted properties is low but the level of discounts for those properties that are reduced are amongst the highest in the country. The Milton Keynes property market would appear to be holding up very well based on the research having both one of the lowest proportions of reduced price properties in the country (28.2%) and also one of the lowest average discounts 94.9%) for those that have been reduced
Lawrence Hall of Zoopla.co.uk comments:
The number of price-reduced properties has fallen to its lowest since early 2010 indicating growing confidence in the market. But there is still a big regional divide with sellers in the North having to discount more often and by a greater amount as a result of lower demand and fewer would-be buyers able to secure financing than in other parts of the country.