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A third of London properties have had asking price reduced to attract cautious buyers
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Original Source: Property Eye.
Original Author: Marc Shoffman.
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More than a third of London properties still on the market since February have had their asking prices dropped, research claims.
Online agent HouseSimple looked at listings across the 32 London boroughs on Zoopla, finding 35.3% of all properties currently being advertised in London have had a price reduction since they were first marketed.
Richmond and Kingston upon Thames have seen the biggest reductions, at 45.9% and 45.3% respectively, while the borough of Newham had the lowest number of reductions, at 25.7% of properties.
HouseSimple didn’t disclose how many of its own properties have been reduced in price.
Alex Gosling, chief executive of HouseSimple, said: “These figures only support the view that the London property market has run out of steam. Agents are dropping prices to persuade cautious buyers to purchase in an economic climate where it’s difficult to predict what’s going to happen next.
“What’s unusual about the level of discounted properties is that it would suggest there are too many sellers and not enough buyers.
“But strangely this market is still suffering from a lack of new supply. There are actually plenty of buyers looking, but they’re a different buyer from 12 months ago. They are more cautious and viewing multiple properties before making a decision. Long gone are the days when buyers were diving in to avoid missing out as the market accelerated away from them.
“Also, plenty of sellers are still hoping to market at mid-2016 prices, but it’s a different market now, post Brexit and General Election.
“Anyone committed to selling may have to accept that they need to drop their prices if they want to attract buyers. This is a time to price realistically not optimistically to attract buyers in a market that is stagnating not booming. If you are willing to negotiate there are committed buyers out there.”
