Member Article

NE homeowners stick to their guns

A third of homeowners in the North East are not prepared to drop their asking price to sell their property, a survey by the Co-operative Bank has found.

Some 39% of people with a property on the market said they would not accept an offer of less than the asking price.

But the survey also found just 12% of househunters would be prepared to offer the full asking price on a home.

Richard Sayer, regional housing spokesperson for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and a director of North East estate agency Rook Matthews Sayer, said: “Over the last two years, we have found the North East public to be more flexible in terms of understanding that they may not receive the asking price for their property.

“Less than 10 percent of sellers in the region insist upon the asking price for their property and this will usually depend upon the cost of their next home and whether the sellers are prepared to reduce their asking price.

“In general, North East sellers and buyers are becoming more flexible as the market begins to improve and more mortgage products become available.

“After the low levels of sales we saw in 2008, agents are encouraged by an increase in sales levels. Rook Matthews Sayer has seen a 59 percent increase in house sales this quarter in comparison to the same quarter last year.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .