Research found that in South West London sellers had dropped their asking prices by an average of over £71,000 to secure a sale.
Estate agents are failing to factor in the impact of Brexit despite over £70,000 being dropped off asking prices in some areas, research from Property Solvers found.
Property Solvers tracked 65,384 property sales between August 2018 and August 2019 to log the average differences between asking prices and their actual sold prices.
It was revealed that, out of the 575 assessed properties in South West London, sellers had dropped their asking prices by an average of over £71,000 to secure a sale.
A similar story was seen in North West London, where 206 vendors reduced their initial prices by almost
£69,000 on average.
Ruban Selvanayagam, co-founder at Property, said: “Even some of the most experienced estate agents are failing to understand the current realities.
“Arguably due to the cloud of uncertainty surrounding Brexit, we’re operating in a buyer’s market at the moment and the fact that agents knowingly state exaggerated valuations at the initial stages is a disservice.”
Bearing in mind that prices in the South tend to be higher than in the Midlands and North, some of the lowest asking to sold reductions were seen in Wigan (-£3,890), Hull (-£4,258), Doncaster (-£4,705), Sheffield (-£4,884) and Sunderland (-£4,915).
Selvanayagam added: “When we speak to homeowners, we always underline the importance of referring to HM Land Registry sold price data. It’s never been easier to access this kind of information online.”
“Of course, it’s never a bad idea to incorporate a bit of wiggle room into the price. Also, if a client has spent a significant amount of money on extending/refurbishing or there’s more floor space then, of course, it makes sense to command more.
“However, overly inflated price valuations in the current sales climate invariably leads to properties lingering on the market for a lot longer than they need to.”
Below are the top 10 areas with the greatest drops have been seen:
South West London -£71,178
North West London -£68,840
West London -£53,998
North London -£37,597
Kingston upon Thames -£28,147
Harrow -£27,818
Slough -£27,584
Watford -£25,705
Guildford -£25,435
Western Central London -£25,268
