Property sellers trim asking prices to secure summer sales

The number of properties for sale across the UK that have been reduced in price at least once by their owners to try to secure a sale is at a nine-month high, according to property website Zoopla.co.uk.

37% of UK properties currently on the market have seen their asking price reduced at least once since first being listed for sale, up from 34% just three months ago. With the average price reduction from the original asking price now at just under £19,000 (7.6%) house hunters can look for property bargains by sorting search results on Zoopla.co.uk by those most reduced in price.

The biggest discounts can currently be found in Newcastle upon Tyne where sellers have knocked an average of 9.6% (£18,888) off their original asking prices and Liverpool where the average reduction is currently 9.1% (£13,643). Wakefield tops the list of places with the highest proportion of price-reduced properties on the market today (51%), followed by Rotherham (45.6%) and Barnsley (44.7%).

Nigel Lewis of Zoopla.co.uk said, “Activity levels tend to fall over the summer months as holidays delay the buying process. With the recent bad weather and the extended Jubilee bank holiday, the rise in proportion of price reductions is a signal that sellers have been doing everything they can to try and tempt those buyers still in the market. Once the distractions of summer holidays and the Olympics are gone buyers will once again be able to focus attention on their property search and this should bolster confidence among sellers.”