Proportion of home owners forced to cut asking prices continues to rise

Housing market continues to struggle and takes its toll on home owners

August 15, 2012

37 per cent of homes on the market have had their asking prices reduced to drum up interest according to a survey by Zoopla.com. The property price website has found that the last three months has seen an increase in the proportion of home owners being forced to cut their asking price in order to sell their homes from 34 to 37 per cent. The average reduction now stands at £19,000 but this figure varies wildly from region to region.

Plymouth has the lowest average reduction with just 5.8 per cent or £10,671 being knocked off the asking price. The north has seen the greatest cuts as a proportion of the price: 9.6 per cent in Newcastle and 9.1 per cent in Liverpool. London has by far the largest drops in price with an average reducation of more than £44,000

According to Nigel Lewis of Zoopla the bad weather is to blame for at least some of the problems facing the housing market along with the Jubilee bank holiday and the summer holidays delaying the buying process.