Sellers slashing house prices within a month

As the property market begins to cool, around one in 10 home sellers are slashing their asking price within 30 days to attract a buyer, research reveals.

House Buyer Bureau says it has analysed property sale stock levels in the last 30 days and what percentage have already reduced their asking price.

The research reveals that more than 85,000 homes have been listed in England’s property market over the last month.

Of these, 6,215 had already reduced their asking price – which means that 7.3% of all home sellers have almost immediately slashed their asking price to attract a buyer.

‘Property market has been cooling for some months now’

The managing director of House Buyer Bureau, Chris Hodgkinson, said: “The property market has been cooling for some months now and we’ve already seen house prices start to normalise as the pandemic market boom fades into memory.

“However, as our research shows, many sellers may still be acting with a degree of over optimism when entering the market and this is forcing them to have an almost immediate rethink where their asking price expectations are concerned.”

He added: “At the same time, it’s likely that widespread reports of declining house prices may have spurred many to lower their asking price in an attempt to secure a buyer before prices fall any further.

“But when looking at buyer demand for these reduced price homes, it’s clear that a reduction in asking price alone is not enough to boost interest and manufacture a quick sale.”

Discounted prices still not swaying buyers

Problems for home sellers don’t end there with discounted prices still not swaying buyers at present with just 5.7% of all homes that that have been reduced being under offer or sold subject to contract.

The East of England has seen the largest level of home sellers reducing their asking price, with one in 10 homes listed in the last 30 days seeing a house price reduction.

The South East (9.8%) and London (8.8%) are also home to some of the largest levels of properties reducing their price within a month of entering the market, followed by the East Midlands (6.5%), South West (5.9%) and West Midlands (5.7%).

Across the more affordable regions of Yorkshire and the Humber (4.9%), the North West (4.3%) and North East (4.1%), the level of house price reductions on homes listed within the last months currently sits below 5%.

Buyer demand for discounted property

In terms of buyer demand for discounted property, the East Midlands sits top, with 8.1% of all prices reduced, followed by the South West (7%) and East of England (6.7%), whereas buyers are least motivated by a property price reduction in the North West (3.9%) and London (4%).

Mr Hodgkinson says: “The best course of action is always to price appropriately and in line with current market conditions when first entering the market.

“If your home is still struggling to sell, slashing your asking price probably isn’t going to be the answer.”

Share This Article