Property price cuts widen gap

MORE than a third of homes currently on sale have been reduced in price by an average of more than £18,500 each - and with sharper falls in the North than the South, says a new report.

Figures compiled by property website www.Zoopla.co.uk show that 38.6 per cent of all homes for sale in Britain have had their asking prices reduced at least once since coming onto the market, up from 37 per cent three months ago, and well ahead of the 32 per cent one year ago.

The squeeze is hitting homes in the seven-figure bracket as well as those lower down the housing chain. Of all £1 million-plus properties on the market, 27 per cent have had at least one price cut, against 25 per cent three months ago and 22 per cent one year ago.

Zoopla claims the average price cut of £18,597 (7.13 per cent) has risen more than £2,200 in the past year, when the average owner was accepting a 6.1 per cent cut.

Sellers in the North are cutting prices by much more than their counterparts in the South, with Northern towns and cities dominating the list of places of the biggest reductions.