homewoners cut prices in london

Homeowners have been forced to cut the asking price on their properties by 1.2 per cent during the past month as the reality of the housing market downturn hits home, according to figures published by the property website Rightmove.

 

Householders in England and Wales had to reduce the cost of their home by nearly £3,000 during the five weeks to 14 June, with the average price tag on a property now at £239,564.

The fall – the first recorded during the peak month of June by Rightmove – followed a 1.2 per cent house price rise the previous month, and suggested that homeowners in the south of England were being worst hit by the stagnating market.

According to the website’s commercial director, Miles Shipside, future sellers can expect to knock 10 per cent off what their house was worth at the height of the property boom. He added: “In spite of the lowest housing transactions for 30 years, new sellers had been coming to the market asking for record prices. It was a mad state of affairs that defied the laws of economics. Thankfully, new sellers are now taking some proactive steps to price more realistically.”

The ration of properties on the market to buyers has doubled to 15-to-one in a year, forcing homeowners to slash prices.

On average there are now a record 75 unsold properties on the books of every estate agent in the country.

The report warns “run-of-the-mill” properties are being particularly badly hit and semi-detached homes in commuter towns need to be marketed as rock bottom “bargain buys” to stand any hope of selling.

Category: Property News