House prices slashed in one-day Scottish property clearance sale

Published on Friday 14 November 2008 21:46

DOZENS of homes will be sold at knock-down prices in a one-off, multi-million-pound, property clearance sale today, estate agents have announced.

Some houses will have discounts of up to 40 per cent, and nearly 100,000 off.

The sale follows the biggest price fall in at least 16 years in the Scottish housing market.

The cost of homes dropped 4 per cent in the three months to the end of October, according to the Scottish House Price Monitor from Lloyds TSB Scotland.

Countrywide, which is running the sale, said it would give developers, builders and investors the opportunity to clear their backlog. The properties, in east and west central Scotland, include modern and traditional flats, as well as terraced, semi-detached and detached houses.

Mairi Eckford, Countrywide's managing director in Scotland, said: "This is a window of opportunity for first-time buyers, families, landlords and investors – the reductions are for one day only. The prices are not typical of current market values."

She said the sale "would kick-start the local housing market".

Many properties in the 95-lot sale have had tens of thousands slashed off their price for the event, which runs from 8am to 6pm at Countrywide's head office in Glasgow's Merchant City.

The biggest discount is on a penthouse flat in Kilmarnock, the price of which is down from 245,000 to 155,000.