Where to try haggling over house prices

Homes in some parts of Kent are selling for an average of 3% under the asking price, representing significant savings for savvy buyers.

But in other postcode areas, it’s a different story with property selling, on average, above the list price.

Figures from the HomeOwners Alliance show that buyers in east Kent achieved some of the best reductions on original asking prices, with up to 9% being taken off in some cases.

Postcode areas CT and TN show the most reduction from the original price – in both areas the average home sells for 97% of the original price.

The CT postcode area includes Canterbury, Whitstable, Herne Bay, Birchington, Westgate-OnSea, Margate, Broadstairs, Ram- sgate, Sandwich, Deal, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe.

The TN postcode includes Ashford, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, New Romney, Romney Marsh, Tenterden and parts of northern and eastern Sussex.

But the DA postcode actually shows a rise from the initial asking price to the final sale price, with homes selling, on average at 101% or the asking price.

This will come to no surprise to those in the market for a new home in Dartford.

Earlier this month people queued around the block for a chance to buy a new home on Bellway Homes’ Oakes Park development in Central Road.

All 33 new homes were snapped up in less than 24 hours.

The DA postcode area includes Dartford, Gravesham, Longfield and parts of the London Borough of Bexley.

Buyers may have slightly more luck in the ME postcode area, where properties are generally sold for the asking price.

The average price for a new home in Kent almost £270,000.

Gavin Curd, managing director of Simon Miller and Fine & Country estate agents, said his nine Kent branches had generally been seeing prices hold steady across the county.

His firm mainly covers the ME and TN postcode areas. “Properties are selling well,” he said.

“Not quite as fast as they were six months ago, whether that’s to do with uncertainty over Brexit I’m not sure, but if they are priced correctly from the outset they will sell fairly quickly.

“But six months ago we would be getting multiple offers on properties and some would sell far in excess of the asking price.”

Mr Curd stressed it was vital to price property correctly from the outset.

He said: “Some estate agents will overvalue property to get people on the books, or to flatter the customer, but if a house is on the market for six months and it goes stagnant, that’s when people will come in with an offer below the market price.

“They are less likely to do that with properties that have just come on the market and are correctly priced.”

The proximity of the DA postcode to London, and high-speed transport links, could be the reason homes are selling for above the odds, explained Mr Kurd.