Bumper bargains breathe new life into flagging house sales

Published on Monday 6 April 2009 10:44

HOME buyers have been snapping up bargain properties in the Capital after dozens of sellers agreed to cut thousands of pounds off their asking prices.

The ELPG group of property solicitors said it has sold more than 40 properties in the last month or so through its 'spring sale' promotion.

The promotion was designed to kick-start the city's flagging property market by persuading sellers whose properties had been stuck on the market to advertise them at drastically lower prices.

Among those sold under the deal was a two-bedroom mid-terraced villa in Corstorphine that was sold for 125,000 – 55,000 lower than the original valuation.

A four-bed detached villa in Danderhall also had 50,000 slashed from its price, selling at a fixed price of 229,995. And an upper-floor flat on Stenhouse Drive was sold for 118,000 – nearly ten per cent lower than its valuation.

In total, the 40 deals represented a 6.5 million sales boost to the property market at what has been one of the Edinburgh property market's quietest spells in years.

Leslie Deans, senior partner at ELPG member Leslie Deans & Co, admitted that something had to be done after his firm suffered one of its quietest years in its history.

"We said to people that there has to be an acceptance that the marketplace has dropped from its height and prices have dropped back," he said.

"Those wanting to make a move had to drop prices in order to allow them to move."

He added: "I'm cautiously optimistic about the market – you won't see some of these types of bargains again because the discounts were at a very high level."

Under the scheme, buyers get to see the price that each property was originally advertised – which is designed to give them confidence in the value of the new price.

John Lints, senior partner at the Lints Partnership, which also took part in the scheme, said: "There's no doubt the property market needed something to kick-start it back into life and I think this initiative has been very helpful in bringing some much-needed confidence back into bricks and mortar.

"So far, we have sold a quarter of our featured Spring Sales properties at the Lints Partnership, which have been worth a combined total of more than 1.1m.

"People are starting to realise that the current conditions are perfect for buying a property."

WHY IT PAYS TO BE REALISTIC

AS with most homeowners, catering assistant George McAllister knew this wasn't the best time to be putting his home on the market.

However, he was moving south to Darlington to live in a new home with his partner, so he had no choice but to go after a quick sale.

When he had his two-bedroom flat on Stenhouse Drive valued last May, it was said to be worth 140,000. But the 50-year-old felt it was better, given the market, to settle for a more realistic price and put it on at offers over 129,995. Having still not generated a sale by January, he then agreed to shave another 5000 off the price. Eventually, interest grew at the new price and he ended up settling on a final bid of 118,000.

"Given the market, I had to reduce the price because prices were going down everywhere and there are so few mortgages about," said Mr McAllister. "As soon as I reduced it I started to get more viewings.

"You know in this climate that you'll have to accept less."