Revealed: The towns forced to cut asking prices over 8%

House sellers are being forced to cut asking prices by over £18,500 or 7.1% on average, according to Zoopla research.

More current sellers have reduced the asking price of their home than at any time in the last year, the property website found. 

Two in five (38.6%) of all properties currently for sale in Britain have had their asking prices reduced at least once since coming onto the market, up from 37% three months ago, and well ahead of the 32% one year ago.

Even properties over £1m, where the market has been most resilient, have seen more asking price reductions. Of all £1m+ properties on the market, 27% have had their price reduced at least once, up from 25% three months ago and significantly higher than the 22% one year ago.

The North is the hardest hit area for asking price reductions, according to Zoopla. Sellers in Bolton are suffering the most, having been forced to reduce the original asking price by 8.6% on average.

Glasgow (8.2%) and Newcastle-upon-Tyne (8.2%) complete the top three, while other major northern cities like Liverpool are also in the top ten.

Conversely, prices in the south-east have remained more immune to reductions where properties in Chelmsford (5.5%) have the lowest average discount and the list also includes other prominent south-east areas like London (6.3%) and Croydon (5.6%).

London has the lowest proportion of price-reduced homes in the UK (32.4%), serving to emphasise its detachment from the rest of the market. Meanwhile, in Stockport, nearly half (47.8%) of all properties for sale have been reduced in price since coming onto the market, closely followed by Huddersfield (46.3%) and Chesterfield (45.8%).

Nicholas Leeming, business development director of Zoopla.co.uk, said: "Vendors continue to have to lower prices due to weak buyer demand. Sluggish economic growth has hit buyer confidence and tight-fisted lenders are currently making it impossible for swathes of would-be buyers to benefit from the price reductions.

"For those who can get mortgages, now is as good a time as there has been in over a year to bag a property bargain."