Investors hold the cards in price negotiations

News Category: Industry News

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Property investors looking to add to their portfolio are currently in a strong position to negotiate with sellers over price, a new survey has shown, as demand for house purchases from consumers dries up.

Figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) showed that investors are currently able to negotiate selling prices for homes of around nine per cent less than the initial asking price.

Opportunities to pick up properties cheaply are even more abundant in the north, where the gap between the asking price and the eventual price the home sold for now stands at 12.5 per cent.

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Rics, said: "With housing transactions currently at a 30-year low, many vendors are being forced to lower their asking prices to achieve a sale in an ever shrinking market or they are being forced to rent their property until the market picks up.

"The gap between asking prices and selling prices could widen in the coming months as the downturn in the economy becomes more visible."

A separate study from the Association of Residential Letting Agents found that four in ten landlords plan to buy property over the next 12 months.

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