Bargain towns

With house prices in freefall and the country gripped by recession, there has never been a better time for cash-rich buyers to pick up a bargain, accroding to www.globrix.com

But where is the best area in the UK to find that dream property at a rock-bottom price?

According to the latest figures compiled by property search engine, Globrix, the historic city of Norwich is the top location in the UK right now if you’re looking to pick up a bargain property.

Globrix is able to track price drops in real time and in the past week alone , 2.6% of sellers in Norwich have dropped their prices, a higher percentage than anywhere else in the country.

This means for bargain hunters looking for a steal, Norwich is the place to look, with 106 properties reduced in price by an average of £13,683 since Monday 10th November. Norwich really is the city where everything must go!

In the current list of bargain hotspots, Norwich is followed by Solihull (2.2%) where 40 properties have been reduced by an average of £13,130 in the past week and Rotherham (2.2%) where 38 properties have had an average of £9,210 knocked off the price since 10th November.

In London, 270 properties have been reduced in price by motivated sellers during the past week, at a substantial average drop of £44,567. In Birmingham, the UK’s second largest city, 78 properties have been lowered in price by sellers, by an average of £9,479.

Nationally, 5,803 properties have been reduced in price by sellers since 10th November at an average price drop of £16,871.

The following table shows a list of the top towns/cities in the UK to pick up a property bargain.

Table of Top Bargain Locations:

Location % of properties reduced as a % of total number, No. of properties reduced in price since 10/11/2008

Norwich 2.6%, 106

Solihull 2.2%, 40

Rotherham 2.2%, 38

Wellingborough 2.2%, 26

Kettering 2.0%, 28

Peterborough 1.8%, 72

Doncaster 1.8%, 46

Bedford 1.8%, 42

Wirral 1.8%, 38

Brighton 1.8%, 32

Aylesbury 1.8%, 28

Colchester 1.6%, 48

Swindon 1.6%, 42

Eastbourne 1.6%, 22

Worthing 1.4%, 24

Hull 1.2%, 42

Reading 1.2%, 34

Daniel Lee, director of property search engine Globrix, comments: “There are bargains galore out there at the moment for cash buyers and people with the finance in place to move quickly. Forget rip-off Britain, you’re now looking at Bargain Britain.

“Buyers are now holding all the cards and sellers need to realise that if they want to sell in this market then they may have to accept an offer they wouldn’t have even considered six months ago.

“Right now a cool head is called for, because despite the country being in the grips of a recession, it’s the perfect time to buy, as many sellers are taking almost any offer to offload a property that is a drain on their finances.”

If landlords are also looking for a bargain property then they can find individual properties listed on the Property Snake. See at a glance by how much a property has fallen in value since first listing.