A HOMEOWNER who offered £50,000 cash back to anyone who would buy his four-bedroom Edinburgh home is set to take the property off the market after it failed to sell.
Malcolm Young, 57, said he, wife Yvonne, 45, and children, Callum, ten, and Sarah, eight, were ready to shelve their hopes of moving to Northern Ireland. Their inability to sell the Queensferry Road home, despite the eye-catching incentive, is a sig
n of how much the market has slowed in the Capital.
Until now, people in homes at the higher end of the market had been largely protected from the worst effects of the credit crunch, as buyers in this region tend to have more disposable income, making them less likely to be badly affected by the peaks and troughs of the economy.
However, as the ESPC reports June sales at just half what they were a year ago, the malaise is spreading.
Experts say Edinburgh is now well into a buyers' market, with the few people looking for a move well-placed to pick and choose from the homes available.
Mr Young's home is a semi-detached stone villa in a quarter of an acre of grounds, with four public rooms and four bedrooms. It has been on the market at £599,000 but, even with the £50,000 cash back offer, has failed to spark much interest.
Cash back offers are often used by developers of new properties, but experts believe in the current climate, owners of second-hand homes may use them too.
Mr Young, who like his wife is a business psychologist, said: "It still has not sold. The offer still stands, but it has not increased levels of interest.
"It's surprising but it's obviously related to the fact that all houses are difficult to sell at the moment.
"I'm going to keep it on for a wee while longer and if it does not sell in the short term I will take it off the market and wait and see if the market changes."
It has been frustrating for the family who have had the house on the market for several months. They had planned to go to Northern Ireland where the couple have business interests, but are getting used to the idea they will probably be staying in Edinburgh for the time being.
Mr Young said: "It's one of those things, we're pretty realistic about it. The disappointing thing is, as I understand it from estate agents, that house prices in Scotland have remained relatively stable, but it's news from England, where things are worse, that is putting people off."
Mr Young would be following the lead of many other sellers, who are choosing to sit it out and wait for the market to improve, rather than make concessions.
David Marshall, business analyst at ESPC, said: "Sales volumes in June 2008 are down 50 per cent compared to June 2007 so, while the top end is still performing better than the bottom end, it is not anything like as strong as in previous years. We don't envisage a return to anything like a ten or 15 per cent growth in the short or medium term."
