The latest data from PrimeLocations shows that the proportion of reduced £1 million plus properties has fallen from 27% to 18% in the last 12 months, its lowest level for three years.
The average price reduction on prime properties across the UK now stands at 8.7%. The commuter town of Rickmansworth in Buckinghamshire tops the list of places where the highest proportion of million pound homes are currently being offered at less than the original asking price with almost half, 48%, of prime properties reduced in order to find buyers. By contrast, only 4% of prime properties on the market on the channel island of Guernsey have been reduced in price.
The smallest price reductions on £1 million plus properties on offer in the market are to be found in Walton-on-Thames at 4.3% followed closely by Guildford at 4.2%, showing that homeowners in these areas are currently less inclined to reduce their asking prices to attract buyers. At the other end of the scale, prime home owners in Bath and Edinburgh are less bullish and are reducing their expectations more than anywhere else in the UK currently.
‘The prime property market is a law unto itself and one which has largely defied gravity in recent years, even during the recession. However, even the wealthiest areas have seen deep discounts in the past few years,’ said Lawrence Hall of PrimeLocation.
‘But the drop over the past 12 months in the number of prime properties with reduced asking prices has been a significant one, indicating that at the top end of the market sellers are generally feeling a lot more bullish now than they were this time last year,’ he added.