Fewer discounted deals on the housing market

Properties for sale are having their prices trimmed less often and by lower amounts, Zoopla has reported.

It says that the proportion of discounted properties has fallen from 34.3% to 30.7% in the last year, and that the average reduction of 6.1% is the lowest since November 2010.

However, the site also says that in the North, over-pricing remains a problem and there is a high level of discounted properties in the region.

Yorkshire has been particularly hit by property price reductions. Six of the ten areas with the biggest proportion of discounted properties are in Yorkshire, including the top three, with 42% of properties in Rotherham, 41% in Doncaster and 40% in Wakefield having been reduced in price since coming to the market.

Barnsley has the highest average discount in the country to the original asking price at 8.6% followed by Liverpool (8.5%) and Blackpool (8.3%),

London has the lowest proportion of price reductions in the UK with only 24% of properties currently for sale in the capital having had their asking price adjusted downwards. Edinburgh (25%) and Bournemouth (26%) complete the top three.

Edinburgh also has the lowest average asking price discount in the UK, currently standing at just 4.9% off the original asking price with Swindon (5.3%) and Bedford (5.4%) coming in second and third.

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla said: “There is a generally positive sentiment in the property market at the moment that reflects a genuine belief that the worst of the economic crisis is behind us and that the housing market is at the early stages of a recovery.

“These figures show that fewer and fewer sellers are feeling the same level of pressure to reduce prices as over the past couple of years, which bodes well for a recovery in house pricing.”