Zoopla.co.uk Blog

Top Ten: Cut price homes for sale

Research we published recently showed that the number of homes for sale featuring a  reduced asking price was on the increase, a softening of the market that is partly seasonal, partly driven by the still weak economy and, some say, not helped by the ongoing Olympics.

Overall asking prices are being reduced by £19,000 or 7.6% and the proportion of homes on the market to have been reduced is 37%, an increase from 34% a year ago. But while the most severe discounts (on average) are in Newcastle-upon-Tyne where house sellers have had to cut their asking prices by 9.6% or £18,888 some people are going to extreme lengths to attract buyers and cutting their asking prices savagely.

We’ve tracked down the properties across the UK that have been reduced significantly since they went on the market, some by up to £50,000 and in one case by a jaw-dropping £400,000.

1. Shirley Hills, near Croydon, Surrey
First on the market for: £2.75m
Now for sale at: £2.35m
Reduction: £400,000 or 14%

Tell more more: This gorgeous six bedroom Georgian-style mansion with large and immaculately tended gardens and a three-port garage is in one of few patches of serious greenery close to London but well connected by train, to be found in the Addington hills to the east of Croydon.

2. Penthouse apartment, Formby, near Liverpool
First on the market for: £795,000
Now for sale at: £595,000
Reduction: £200,000 or 25%

Tell me more: Formby is one of Liverpool’s more upmarket seaside dormitory towns and prices locally reflect it’s popularity with the city’s more well heeled residents. This three bedroom apartment, which is on the top floor of a modern development in the centre of the town, has been lavishly furnished throughout.

3. Period-style house in the Surrey countryside
First on the market for: £1.45m
Now for sale at: £1.25m
Reduction: £200,000 or 13.7%

Tell me more: A large neo-Elizabethan house on the fringes of Addington Golf Course in the Surrey countryside between Addington and Keston. The property includes a two-port garage as large-ish garden out the back built for partying – it’s accessed from a pool room with a bar.

4. Surburban mansion, Roundhay, Leeds
First on the market for: £1.595m
Now for sale at: £1.449m
Reduction: £146,000 or 9.1%

Tell me more: If you’re after an executive home with plenty of upmarket clout in Leeds then head for Roundhay, arguably one of the city’s most  expensive and exclusive neighbourhoods. This seven bedroom mansion has been built with the region’s distinctive yellow stone and it’s owners are keen to sell, both dropping its asking price substantially and offering it up for part exchange.

5. Modern house with six bedrooms in Surrey
First on the market for: £1.895
Now for sale at: £1.795m
Reduction: £100,000 or 5.2%

Tell me more: A modern home which could be called Canadian in looks and like it North American counterparts features huge rooms and a large garden out the back. It’s in the countryside between Croydon and the Kent county border and appears to be part of trend in the area for large asking price reductions – it’s the third on our list.

6. Cute cottage, Woolpit, near Bury St Edmunds
First on the market for: £475,000
Now for sale at: £399,000
Reduction: £76,000 or 16%

Tell me more: Woolpit is a small village in the heart of the Suffolk countryside about ten miles east of Bury St Edmunds. This wobbly-beamed cottage, which has bits dating back 600- years, has four bedrooms and a glass paneled conservatory at the back.

7. Wing of a Victorian detached house, Turton, near Bolton
First on the market for: £475,000
Now for sale at: £399,950
Reduction: £76,000 or 16%

Tell me more: This mid-Victorian property in upmarket Chapeltown on the northern fringes of Bolton in Manchester is one of three properties created within this four-storey detached house during the early noughties. This ‘wing’ includes four bedrooms and a small orangery-cum-dining room.

8. Terraced side street home, Hatfield, Hertfordshire
First on the market for: £595,000
Now for sale at: £525,000
Reduction: £70,000 or 11.7%

Tell me more: If you like living on an unspoilt winding street packed with mid-Victorian homes then this four-bedroom family home is ideal. Within Hatfields’ old heart close to the railway station, it should have been snapped up by a London commuter.

9. Seaside house, Deal, Kent
First on the market for: £475,000
Now for sale at: £425,000
Reduction: £50,000 or 10.5%

Tell me more: Deal is one of the south coast’s forgotten seaside paradises. It’s whitewash stuccoed esplanade’s properties arebeautiful enough but the sea, which washes up close to the coastal road running along it, makes for an eyeful at high tide. This four bedroom terraced house on the seafront has been tastefully decorated and would make an ideal holiday home.

10. Two-property equine estate near Kings Lynn
First on the market for: £650,000
Now for sale at: £600,000
Reduction: £50,000 or 7.6%

Tell me more: You might expect this property to have been snapped up, or should we say be a galloping sales success. t’s near the area’s fashionable (and celebrity rich) town of Downham Market plus the price includes a period farmhouse, a 1970s bungalow, several barns, more outbuildings than it’s practical to list here, an outdoor school and several stables.

August 29, 2012 at 11:29 AM Nigel Lewis Leave a comment