Homebuyers in the United Kingdom are facing more properties at undiscounted sales prices, according to research provided by Zoopla. Sales prices that have been discounted have been less so over the past three months despite the reintroduction of the stamp duty on first-time homebuyers and a stamp duty on properties priced more than £2 million. The lack of discounts do not seem to be hampering demand, however, which is in turn encouraging more sellers to stick to higher price points. Sellers in Newcastle and Liverpool are currently offering the biggest discounts, while Rotherham has the highest number of discounted homes for sale. For more on this continue reading the following article from Property Wire.
Despite some of the recent gloom in the UK housing market, the number of properties for sale that have been reduced in price since coming onto the market has actually fallen over the last three months, research reveals.
The average asking price discount has also fallen, despite the changes to stamp duty land tax in March and £2.9 billion has been knocked off asking prices in total, according to the research from Zoopla.
One third, 34%, of properties currently for sale have been reduced in price since first coming onto the market, down from 37% in February. And the average discount on the original asking price has fallen by more than £500 over the same period. Average asking price reductions now stand at £19,012 or 7.5%.
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The drop in proportion and size of asking price discounts has emerged despite the reintroduction of stamp duty for first time buyers and the introduction of the 7% stamp duty tax on properties sold at over £2 million.
‘The changes to the stamp duty rules significantly increased the cost of buying for many and there were concerns this would quash demand and force sellers to make bigger cuts in their asking prices. However, it appears demand has remained strong enough for average discounts to actually fall,’ said Nicholas Leeming of Zoopla.
The total amount knocked off the original asking prices of all properties currently for sale across the country stands at £2.9 billion, with £1.3 billion in reductions in London alone.
Newcastle tops the list of places where the biggest discounts are currently being offered by sellers with average reductions of 11.1% or £22,151. Sellers in Liverpool have also made large concessions, knocking 9.2% or £14,031 off their original asking prices on average.
Rotherham has the highest proportion of discounted properties for sale with 43.9% of sellers having cut their asking prices at least once. Other areas with a high proportion of asking price reductions include Swansea at 42.5% and Barnsley at 41.6%.
‘While sellers in some areas have had to make significant price concessions in order to attract buyers, it’s encouraging to see the overall trend of fewer price reductions and a drop in the size of these reductions,’ added Leeming.
This article was republished with permission from Property Wire.
