Homebuyers in Southern England are securing bigger discounts on the asking price than in the past, Hometrack’s UK Cities House Price Index has found.
Homebuyers in Southern England are securing bigger discounts on the asking price than in the past, Hometrack’s UK Cities House Price Index has found.
Buyers in London and Oxford secured discounts averaging at 4.7% in the first quarter of the year, with those in Cambridge (3.1%) and Bournemouth (3.1%) also managed to get more money off than in previous years.
Some of the areas with bigger discounts have slow year-on-year house price growth, including London (0.8%), Oxford (1.3%) and Cambridge (0.1%).
Richard Donnell, insight director at Hometrack, said: “The strength of house price growth and level of discounting from asking prices reveals how the current housing cycle continues to unfold. The overall pace of overall city level growth has lost momentum as a result of virtually static prices in London and slower growth across southern England.
“Weaker consumer confidence and modest increase in mortgage rates are also impacting demand and mortgage approvals for home purchase have drifted lower in the last quarter. The cities index reveals, how macro and local factors such as the strength of the local economy and the relative affordability of housing are influencing the pace and direction of house price growth.”
Buyers in Aberdeen, where house prices are falling by 7.2% year-on-year, managed to get 9.6% off the asking price on average.
There were also big discounts in Newcastle (5.5%) and Liverpool (4.7%).
