Owners slash £26k off house prices in desperate bid to sell

Published on Saturday 22 November 2008 10:23

DOZENS of sellers a month in the Capital are slashing the price of their property in a bid to get it sold, new research has revealed.

A price tracking website suggests that six sellers a week in Edinburgh are shaving an average of nearly 26,000 off the price of their homes to trigger interest.

Property agents say that people have had a "dose of reality" and are now being much more realistic about asking prices.

The information has been compiled by property search engine Globrix, which monitors more than 1100 properties currently for sale in the city on a variety of websites, including the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre (ESPC).

Daniel Lee, director of Globrix, said: "Buyers are now holding all the cards and sellers need to realise that if they want to sell in this market then they may have to accept an offer they wouldn't have even considered six months ago.

"Right now a cool head is called for, because despite the country being in the grips of a recession, it's the perfect time to buy, as many sellers are taking almost any offer to offload a property that is a drain on their finances."

The six properties in Edinburgh that changed price in the week to November 10 represented 0.6 per cent of the market. Agents say many more sellers are likely to lower their price at some point if their property remains on the market.

The ESPC said earlier this week that the average value of an Edinburgh home had declined by 20,000 on last year.

Willie Hunter, a director of the ESPC and partner-in-charge at Hunters Residential, said: "The market has been in this state for some time now and the public have now latched on to the fact that they will not receive the same price that they would have six months ago.

"They are now prepared to reassess the price. But they will also know that they will be able to pay less for a new property that they are buying.

"People have had a dose of realism. They are being more sensible and, as a result, I'm beginning to sense that properties might be just beginning to sell again."

Scott Brown, a partner at Edinburgh and Lothians Property Group member Warners, said: "There is no doubt that people are reducing asking prices – it is happening across the UK.

"If I'm selling and see a property that takes my attention and I think it is cheaper than it was but I need to sell my own home first, I will be likely to reduce my own price to make it sell quicker."