High-priced homes are languishing on the market in Norfolk for as long as three years amid a worrying slowdown in sales.
Property values showed near-zero growth compared with a year ago with prices edging up by just 0.1% year-on-year in January, Nationwide Building Society figures showed.
This followed annual house price growth slowing down from a 0.5% increase in December and 1.9% growth in November, compared to January 2017, when growth was as high as 4.3%.
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Estate agents are still reporting valuations and listings being up on last year and one said they have received nine offers in the last three days.
But many high value homes just are not selling. This newspaper found around 50 Norfolk properties priced £500,000 or more had been on the market for almost a year, with 10 first listed almost two years ago and one, a four-bedroom detached house in Hellesdon, Norwich, for sale for offers in excess of £700,000, listed on March 29, 2016.
Others included a three-bedroom detached bungalow at Outwell, near Wisbech, for £525,000, listed on October 19, 2017 and a five bedroom detached house in Trimingham, for £550,000, which went up for sale on December 1, 2017. However, the listing does not always show the original date of going up for sale if it has been reduced more recently.
Julie Engall, from estate agents Mills Knight, said: 'A property shouldn't be on the market for that long but some vendors are happy to wait if they haven't got the motivation of a job move or really need to move.'
Tim Wicks, from Brown & Co, said: 'If you've got a property in the Golden Triangle, you are only going to wait to sell for about six-eight weeks but other areas may take longer. However, we have valued more properties than last January, valuations and listings are very good but viewings, offers and sales are down – that's the general picture.'
Ian Forrest, branch partner at abbotFox estate agents, said they had received nine offers in three days on homes worth between £95,000-£550,000.
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