The very surprising list of exclusive beauty spots where you can buy your dream home for 30 per cent BELOW the asking price: LUCY EVANS

Your dream home may seem out of reach if you glance at the prices in estate agent windows and on property websites. But you could save as much as 30 pc in some areas as desperate sellers want to clinch a deal.

In exclusive Salcombe in Devon or stylish Marylebone in London, for example, buyers can snap up a bargain knocking tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds off the asking price.

Average asking prices have surged upwards across the country to a record high £377,000, according to property portal Rightmove, while affordability and mortgage payments are still incredibly strained. But large differences between the listed price of a home and what it typically sells for mean you could snap up a bargain property in a desirable location.

A combination of overvalued houses and slow property markets means there could be plenty of room for negotiation.

With analysis from house buying company Upstix, we reveal the surprising property discount hotspots where you can grab a bargain...

The list price very rarely reflects the true value of a property.

Henry Pryor, buying agent at Pryor & Co, warns estate agents will sometimes overvalue properties. ‘Nothing is more flattering to a potential seller than an agent saying, “I think your flat is the most wonderful and it’s worth more than you’re expecting it to be worth”.’

‘Most sellers are optimistic too – they don’t notice the flight path overhead or the railway running next to the house. They will always think their house is worth more than it is.’

Together, this can cause a house to be listed for higher than it is worth in the hope a buyer will pay this inflated price. In reality, this rarely works.

In fact, data from industry body Propertymark shows just 9 pc of properties achieve asking price and more than 80 pc of homes sell for less.

Fred Jones, chief executive of Upstix, says: ‘Sometimes an asking price is simply that – an ask – and buyers are not willing to match it. It’s easy for sellers to get lured in by an over-optimistic valuation.

‘But it’s often these overvaluations that cause problems, like a lack of interested buyers and long listing times – which in the end means they must reduce their asking price anyway.’

One expert says this could lead to homes being ‘tarnished’.

It’s bad news for sellers – but great news for buyers. Savvy house hunters don’t have to accept the asking price and could instead slash tens of thousands of pounds off their dream property, but only if they know the right places to look.

It’s important to remember that if a property is overvalued by 30 pc, and you only negotiate a 10 pc reduction on the asking price, then it’s hardly a ‘discount’ as such, says buying agent Henry Sherwood.

‘Around half of the properties that come to the market are overvalued. So with this in mind, a reduction from the asking price is not a discount,’ he adds.

Some markets are also slower and the seller may have been trying to secure a deal for some time, which means they could accept lower offers for a quick or certain sale.

In England, London properties sell for the biggest discounts, according to data from Upstix. Homes sell for 3.71 pc less than their listed price on average. This amounts to a £30,628 saving, knocking the typical price from £824,861 to £794,233.

But there are areas across the country where you can get as much as 30 pc off the asking price.

Take the NE63 postcode in Northumberland. Homes here are listed for an average of £450,995 but sellers accept £317,612 – a saving of more than £133,000, or 29.58 pc.

The postcode covers the fishing villages of North Sunderland and nearby Seahouses, which has a quaint harbour.

Bamburgh Castle is just a few miles away and there are regular boat trips to the nearby Farne Islands, home to puffins and grey seals. It’s a great opportunity to pick up a coastal home at a chunky discount. Homes in the area listed for around £450,000 online tend to be detached properties with four to five bedrooms.

Families raced to snap up seaside properties during the pandemic as outdoor space became a premium. But now they are returning to cities and the capital, meaning coastal homes are taking longer to sell – three weeks more on average compared to 2020, according to Rightmove.

The West Midlands SY12 postcode – covering Shropshire towns such as Ellesmere, Welshampton and Dudleston – offers buyers as much as a 20.15 pc discount. Homes are listed for £372,531 on average while sale prices are £297,477, a £75,000 saving.

The area near the Welsh border is around a 35-minute drive to market town Shrewsbury and one hour 20 minutes away from Birmingham city centre. Properties listed for around £370,000 in Ellesmere are typically four-bedroom new builds. Homes sell in the east of England IP12 postcode for £80,000 less than the average asking price. Properties are listed for an average £492,633 but sell for a £412,372 – a 16.29 pc discount.

Most of the postcode – including villages Orford, Rendlesham and Boyton – is in the Suffolk and Essex Coast and Heaths National Landscape area, the new term for the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Buyers can enjoy rural surroundings and being near the coast while still having a short 35-minute commute into Ipswich.

Although Bradley Potter, owner of Potters Estate Agents in nearby Woodbridge, hasn’t seen swathes of homes sell below the asking price, he says most of the negotiation on list prices in the area is happening on homes that need renovation.

‘Properties that need a lot of work done, that’s where the price is being diminished due to the cost of materials and workmanship,’ he says.

The most unexpected postcode on this list is TQ8, which covers Salcombe in south Devon.

Despite its status as the Sandbanks of the South-West, properties sell on average for £718,514 but are listed for £842,271. This is a discount of almost £124,000.

House prices in the exclusive seaside town where a significant proportion of properties are second homes, have dipped in recent years.

Theo Spink, consultant at estate agent Luscombe Maye in Salcombe, says sweeping tax changes for second homeowners could be contributing to price reductions. She says: ‘The middle classes are feeling very hit by the Government and they are wondering where the next hit is coming from.’

Second homeowners have been plagued with a 100 pc council tax premium which will discourage families from buying in the holiday hotspot, says Mr Pryor.

Those with holiday rental properties may find their profit squeezed by rising costs, such as higher mortgage rates and council tax, which could mean they are looking for a quick sale to release capital.

Ms Spink also notes families are now flocking abroad once more for holidays. ‘We’ve had two rubbish summers. People are rediscovering Europe – they can go there and get guaranteed sunshine.’

Plus, as prices of food and drink are soaring in Devon and Cornwall – with the price of a pint of beer in Salcombe between £6 and £7 – a cheaper weekend in Lisbon or Barcelona could be more alluring.

Buyers may also be surprised to find they can get a 13.3 pc discount on listed prices for homes in W1U – the centre of the affluent Marylebone district in central London. However, they’ll still need to stump up a cool £1.3million. This will typically buy a two to three-bedroom flat.

Paula Higgins, chief executive of property website HomeOwners Alliance, says the London property market has been ‘fairly slow’ due to leasehold reforms, which could be contributing to sellers accepting lower offers.

‘Flats are a bit harder to sell. They tend to be overvalued when they are listed – they haven’t really increased in value,’ she says.

If you want a home in Sheffield, Prescot or Bradford, then you may have to spend a little more than you intended as Upstix analysis shows you may have to offer above the asking price to secure a property.

Most postcodes where selling prices are above the asking price are in the Midlands or the North. This could be due to limited homes for sale or a surge of buyers.

Homes in the BD1 postcode in central Bradford sell for £56,751 but are listed for £44,611, a premium of 27.21 pc.

You may have to spend 13.83 pc more than the listed price for a property in Southsea, Portsmouth – postcode PO4 – as homes sell for £338,028 compared to an asking price of £296,949 – a jump of more than £41,000.

Properties in central Middlesbrough, Wolverhampton and Radlett in Hertfordshire all sell for more than the asking price.

Haggling doesn’t come naturally to many of us – and may even feel uncomfortable or rude – but negotiation is vital to get your home for the lowest possible price.

An estate agent may try to convince you a home is worth more than you are willing to pay. But remember they are working for the seller, and not the buyer, so you need to fight your corner.

Ms Higgins says a good rule of thumb is not to offer below 10 pc off the asking price for risk of offending the seller. If you really envisage the property being your home, you don’t want to alienate the seller with a low offer.

However, limiting yourself to just 10 pc below the listed price could mean you miss out on the really chunky discounts found in places such as Seahouses and Salcombe.

Robert Jones, founder of website Property Investments UK, says: ‘We don’t find negotiation easy so rather than being blunt and saying, “This is the price I’m offering”, explain the reasoning as this will go a long way.’

Look at the sale prices of other properties in the area or ones which are on the market for a lower price, which you can use to your advantage when negotiating.

He adds: ‘Appreciate the situation of the seller. You can use the length of time it has been on the market to your advantage.

‘They may have lost a little bit of faith and might be more accepting of a lower offer. You might just catch them at the right time whereas it’s harder to get a big discount when a property first comes on the market.’

Mr Jones says to start with a offer lower than your maximum price and build negotiations from there.

Also, avoid using round numbers, such as £200,000, when making an offer. Choosing a specific number such as £198,500 shows careful consideration and research to the seller, he says.

Purchasing a home in cash is a useful tool for buyers with a lower offer, as it may persuade sellers looking for a certain or quick sale.

Mr Pryor says: ‘Estate agents are going to push you. As a buyer you can say “I know your asking price but I’m going to offer less. Here’s the proof I’ve got the money, the mortgage in principle and I don’t have a house to sell”. Be prepared.’