Four year low for asking price discounts

Wakefield tops list of areas with highest proportion of asking price reductions with biggest discounts in Newcastle

A three bedroom end terrace house for sale in Sparable Lane, Wakefield WF1. On with William H Brown at a guide price of £75,000 , first listed at £110,000 in September 2012.

The proportion of UK properties on the market for sale with a reduced asking price has dropped to its lowest level in four years, says property website Zoopla.co.uk.

Its latest research reveals that of all properties now available for sale, only 27 per cent have had their asking price reduced from their original level, down from 31 per cent three months ago and well below 2011's level of 40 per cent.

The size of the average price reduction has also fallen slightly over the last three months with sellers now offering average discounts of 6.25 per cent off the original asking price (£20,782), down from 6.45 per cent (£21,451) in November.

Wakefield heads the list of places with the highest proportion of price-reduced properties. Around 42 per cent of homes for sale there have been discounted from their original level with Barnsley (38 per cent) and Rotherham (37 per cent) registering the next best levels. The biggest discounts are in Newcastle upon Tyne, where the average asking price reduction is 8.9 per cent.

London has the lowest proportion of discounted properties on the market at 15 per cent, followed by Edinburgh (20 per cent) and Coventry (24 per cent).

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla said: "The government’s Help to Buy scheme, increased availability of mortgages and confidence in the economy have all helped to invigorate the property market at the start of 2014. This has driven a rise in demand among buyers and helped reduce the pressure being felt by sellers to discount their properties, particularly in London, where competition for quality property remains fierce.

“While this is good news for sellers, buyers need to see more stock come onto the market over the coming months otherwise the recent trend of rising prices is likely to continue as spring takes hold and more buyers decide to search for property and create further competition.”

Top five areas with highest proportion of asking price reductions

1 Wakefield 41.5 per cent

2 Barnsley 38.1 per cent

3 Rotherham 37.2 per cent

4 Wigan 36.9% 7.7 per cent

5 Preston 36.9% 7.1 per cent

Top five areas with biggest asking price reductions

1 Newcastle upon Tyne 8.9 per cent

2 London 8.3 per cent

3 Bolton 8.3 per cent

4 Blackpool 8.2 per cent

5 Doncaster 7.9 per cent

Top five areas with lowest proportion of asking price reductions

1 London 14.8 per cent

2 Edinburgh 19.7 per cent

3 Coventry 23.5 per cent

4 York 23.7 per cent

5 Bournemouth 23.8 per cent

Top five areas with smallest asking price reductions

1 Warrington 6 per cent

2 Peterborough 6 per cent

3 Plymouth 6 per cent

4 Southampton 6.2 per cent

5 Lincoln 6.2 per cent