Country houses for sale

Estate agents’ Christmas bargains

Countrywide, the UK’s largest estate agency group, is to hold a £1.65 billion three-day end-of-year sale, starting tomorrow (December 11). The owners of more than 7,500 properties have been encouraged to cut their prices by as much as 30%.

The Christmas bargain scheme has been in the planning for several months. Properties valued from £50,000 to £1 million-plus will be on offer through 1,000 Countrywide branches. The business owns about 30 estate agency brands, including Bairstow Eves, Entwhistle Green, Faron Sutaria, Gascoigne Pees, John D Wood, Mann and Wilson Peacock.

The scheme is intended to kick-start the property market. It will last for 3 days from December 11 to December 13.

Transactions are at a record low, according to figures released this week by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, with estate agents selling, on average, less than one house a week.

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