Homeowners across the UK slashing prices

Homeowners who are desperate to get rid of their properties for sale this year are taking the hasty measure of slashing their prices to make sure that they can find a buyer for their house among a trend of dropping values and a worrying economy.

It was recently reported by Nationwide that the cost of housing across the UK is decreasing rapidly, with the overall selling values having dropped in four of the last five months, which could be a result of people feeling less certain about their future in a double-dip recession.

And now Zoopla.co.uk has said that many people with UK property on the market have had to cut the price that they were hoping to achieve for their home on at least one occasion.

It said that since the beginning of the year, some 37 per cent of homes had had their values cut in a bid to secure a sale. More worryingly perhaps, the average amount that they have been reduced in value sits at 7.6 per cent, or £19,000, meaning that many people will have made a substantial loss when trying to move home.

The largest slashes were seen in Newcastle, in the North East of the country, which typically sees the lowest home valuations, where they were dropped by an average 9.6 per cent.

The property advertising site said that much of the cuts have been caused by the fact that there has been widespread apathy in the market in terms of people looking for new homes. This, it added, may be blamed on such events as the Olympics and the Queen's diamond jubilee, which captured attentions throughout the summer.

Nigel Lewis, property spokesman for Zoopla, said: "With the recent bad weather and the extended jubilee bank holiday, the rise in proportion of price reductions is a signal that sellers have been doing everything they can to try and tempt those buyers still in the market.

"Once the distractions of summer holidays and the Olympics are gone buyers will once again be able to focus attention on their property search, and this should bolster confidence among sellers."