London home sellers offer ever-growing discounts

The average reduction on a home in 13 inner-city boroughs jumped to 7.6% in the first quarter of 2019

The UK capital's residential market has been stung in recent years by the introduction of new taxes and the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. Getty Images
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London homebuyers are getting the biggest discounts in at least six years, according to data from Zoopla.

The average reduction on a home in 13 inner London boroughs jumped to 7.6 per cent in the first quarter, up from 7 per cent a year earlier, the property-search website said in a report Wednesday. The residential real estate market in the UK capital has been stung in recent years by the introduction of new taxes and the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

“The London housing market is going through a repricing process after a prolonged period of rapid price gains,” said Richard Donnell, Zoopla’s research director. “The repricing still has a way to run, but the downward pressure on prices is starting to moderate.”

While the average discount continues to rise, there are signs in some areas that the price cuts are starting to ease. In April, more than half of the London neighborhoods tracked by Zoopla saw a decrease in the percentage of listings with a reduced asking price, compared with a year earlier.

In Kensington and Chelsea, for example, the share of properties offered at a discount was little changed last month from a year earlier. That compares with a more than 5 per cent increase from April 2017 to 2018.