Estate agents and property sellers are routinely setting asking prices well above the figures homes eventually achieve, with the average property selling for almost 10 per cent less than its original listing price.

Knight Frank says sellers are being forced to accept steep discounts as higher mortgage rates and an oversupply of homes create tougher conditions for the property market.

Homes where contracts were exchanged between July and September achieved an average of 90.6 per cent of their initial asking price, according to Knight Frank data.

In practical terms, a property first advertised at £300,000 would sell for about £271,800, while a home listed at £500,000 would typically change hands for £453,000.

Buying agents say they are negotiating discounts of up to 26 per cent, particularly on smaller flats, new-build properties and former buy-to-lets. These homes are proving especially attractive to bargain hunters as sellers cut prices heavily to bring buyers through the door.

Jo Eccles, founder and managing director of prime London buying agency Eccord, says some vendors are also putting their properties on the market with unrealistic price tags.

‘We achieved a discount of 26 per cent recently on a house in southwest London,’ says Eccles.

‘In overpricing to begin with and sitting on the market for some time, the seller was on the back foot and we were able to capitalise.’

The current climate is a marked departure from 2021 and 2022, when demand was boosted by the pandemic-era stamp duty holiday, the ‘race for space’ and lower mortgage costs.

During the same July-to-September period in 2022, sellers achieved 100 per cent of their initial asking prices on average, Knight Frank reported.

Expensive homes see biggest discounts

The premium end of the property market is facing particularly challenging conditions.

Homes priced at £2million or more are half as likely to sell as properties below that threshold, take twice as long to find a buyer and typically sell at a discount of nearly £250,000, according to TwentyCi data released this month.

Jonathan Hopper of buying agency Garrington Property Finders says the largest price reductions are generally being seen on prime properties, particularly in London.

Garrington’s analysis found that fewer than four in 10 London homes listed between July and September secured a buyer.

Across the capital’s £1million-plus postcodes, 3.6 properties were listed for sale for every one that sold. Only 28 per cent of homes found a buyer during the three-month period.

The analysis also showed that for every 100 sales agreed, 62 properties were withdrawn from the market. That is twice the national rate and suggests many sellers ultimately abandoned their attempts to move.

Hopper says: ‘These figures capture well just how hard things are for sellers at the premium end of the market.

‘Rather than seeing their home sit unsold, sellers often face an awkward choice between coming off the market or slashing the price.’

Hopper says buying agents are also seeing a ‘discount two-step’ emerge among sellers in southern England.

Under this approach, a seller makes an initial price cut to generate interest and increase viewings, then agrees to reduce the price again during negotiations with a prospective buyer.

Why do homes get over-valued? 

Sellers want to get the best possible price for their property. This can result in some trying their luck by listing with an overly ambitious asking price.

In some cases estate agents feel they have little choice but to agree, or risk losing the instruction.

However, some agents have been known to over-value homes in order to win over sellers, often in the hope that they can persuade them to reduce it to a more realistic level later.

Buying agent Jo Eccles says: ‘This is a really tricky market to navigate, because a discount from the asking price set by the seller or their agent isn’t necessarily a discount from the true value.

‘In some cases, sellers are setting the asking price to try and recoup what they paid for the property, plus stamp duty and any works carried out during their ownership. 

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‘In other cases, selling agents are overpricing properties to win instructions over their competitors. In both these scenarios, the asking price is not a true representation of market value today.’

How to haggle off the asking price: Top tips 

Buyers in locations where properties are struggling to sell can feel more confident in offering significantly under the asking price without offending the seller.

The seller and their estate agent are likely to be short of interest and this creates the perfect opportunity to buy at a discount.

It’s worth understanding what buyer demand and house prices are doing in a local area, rather than focusing on the county or country as a whole.

There may still be strong buyer demand or a lack of good quality homes for sale in a specific area, for example.

Buyers shouldn’t assume they can pluck a figure out of the air and expect the seller to knock it off the price, according to buying agent Jonathan Hopper.

‘Asking prices are a seller’s aspiration and a starting point for negotiations. Smart buyers will do their homework to get a handle on how realistic the asking price is, and to figure out the seller’s motivation,’ he says.

‘Understanding these two things will help you calibrate an offer the seller is likely to accept, even if it is below their asking price.’

Hopper suggests the two key tell-tales buyers should look out for are any signs of the seller being in a hurry or if they have been struggling to get serious offers. 

‘If offers have been rejected, try to find out why,’ Hopper adds. ‘If no offers have been made, especially for a while, the seller may be getting anxious and this will give you the maximum chance of success if you’re serious and have all your financial ducks in a row’.

Jo Eccles suggests buyers make sure they’re in a position where they can actually proceed before they try to negotiate.

‘Present your offer with as much detail as possible in terms of who you are and why you’re buying the property, as well as practical information such as who your solicitor and mortgage lender is, your financial position and preferred timescales for exchange and completion,’ she advises. 

Eccles thinks buyers should avoid debating with the estate agent about what they think the property is worth or bringing in examples of other sold homes to argue their point. 

She adds: ‘My advice would be to present your offer with tact and not get drawn into a potentially insulting debate about what the property is worth.

‘It erodes goodwill from the transaction and reduces it simply to facts and figures, comparables and price statistics, rather than getting across the emotion behind your offer. 

‘This reduces your likeability and the seller may also suspect you will behave badly through the purchase process or find ways to chip the price later on.

‘Sellers are very sensitive, as so many of them are selling for a loss, so coming across as an aggressive or know-it-all buyer won’t win you any favours. 

‘A seller or agent is much more likely to trust you if you say, ‘This is as far as I can stretch and I appreciate it might not be what you’re looking for, but I will be an upstanding and committed buyer.’

Scientists have identified a striking pattern in reports of reincarnation that they say cannot be explained by existing psychosocial theories.

Researchers at the University of Virginia analysed 1,678 accounts from people who said they remembered experiences from a previous life.

Their study found that the apparent gap between a person’s death and their supposed rebirth varied significantly depending on how they had died.

Violent and unexpected deaths were linked to a shorter interval, while the most shocking circumstances were associated with reincarnation occurring up to 40 per cent sooner.

Most unexpectedly, the association was strongest among families who said they did not believe in reincarnation.

The researchers stress that their findings do not prove reincarnation exists.

They argue, however, that the pattern is difficult to reconcile with current explanations for how apparent past-life memories develop.

Study co-author Dr Marieta Pehlivanova, of the University of Virginia, said: ‘The mechanisms underlying these findings are currently unclear, but that gives us even more reason to keep looking, not to look away.’

For reasons that remain unknown, some people describe exceptionally vivid memories that seem to originate from a previous life.

Researchers say such accounts are most frequently reported by children, and that the memories typically disappear by about the age of seven.

In certain cases, children also display behaviours, fears or preferences that appear unusual within their families and cannot be linked to events from their current lives.

Some scientists have further argued that these memories correspond accurately to the lives of identifiable historical figures.

Yet systematic research into past-life reports remains limited, and the reliability of such claims remains highly controversial.

For their paper, published in the journal APA PsycNet, the researchers reviewed a database containing some of the strongest and best-documented reports of alleged past-life memories.

Lead author Dr Saeedeh Sadeghi, of the University of Virginia, said: ‘An earlier published report had suggested a link between violent death and a shorter interval between death and birth.

‘We wanted to examine that relationship more systematically and determine whether cultural or psychological factors could account for it.’

The team focused on cases in which a child’s reported memories had been linked to a particular deceased person, then examined the circumstances of that individual’s death.

The researchers classified deaths as natural, including those caused by illness or old age, or unnatural, such as deaths resulting from accidents, violence or suicide.

Additionally, they also looked at how unexpected the death had been and what age the person was when they passed away. 

While you might expect the arrangement to be somewhat random if all the past life stories were fabricated, the researchers actually found a striking level of consistency.

There was a strong association between unexpected deaths and speedier ‘intermissions’.

At the lowest level of unexpectedness, there was an average of 21 months between someone’s death and the birth of a child who seemed to recall details of their lives.

At the highest levels of unexpectedness, the turnaround was almost 50 per cent quicker, with the child being born just 12 months later.

More strikingly, this pattern seemed to persist even when the researchers attempted to control for social factors such as religious beliefs or the recent death of a loved one.

Dr Sadeghi says: ‘To our surprise, the relationship was still there when we tested it in a much larger number of cases, and the social and psychological factors we examined did not explain it away.’

According to the researchers, this suggests that past life beliefs aren’t due to ‘memory contamination’, where children repeat stories they have heard elsewhere, or families using a belief in reincarnation as a coping method after a death in the family.

The researchers don’t currently know why this strange pattern might emerge, however, Dr Sadeghi suggests one possible theory.

She says: ‘Something related that comes up in the field of past-life memory research is the idea of “unfinished business.” The idea is that each person’s life may have a mission or certain things they are supposed to experience

‘If a life is cut short and that mission is not fulfilled, it might somehow be related to children spontaneously reporting past-life memories corresponding to that life. 

‘Our results could be seen as consistent with an extension of this idea, suggesting that the child might also be born sooner on average.’

While the researchers don’t necessarily believe that this proves reincarnation is a real phenomenon, they insist that the data shows that past life memories are worthy of serious investigation.

Dr Sadeghi says: ‘All we can say is that there is documented evidence of these reported memories corresponding to the lives of deceased individuals, along with some seemingly anomalous patterns associated with these cases.

‘Some people prefer to interpret the phenomenon in terms of reincarnation, while others consider phrases like spirit possession or some form of psychic identification with a deceased person. 

‘I’m not as concerned with these speculations as I am with the empirical evidence and whether this phenomenon can be explained through ordinary processes or points to something beyond the physicalist view of human consciousness.’

Commonwealth secretary-general Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has said King Charles III should apologise for slavery, arguing that the time has arrived for member states to have a serious conversation about reparations.

Ms Botchwey said Commonwealth nations wanted the monarch to acknowledge the transatlantic slave trade, adding that such an apology “wouldn’t hurt”.

“I don’t believe we can run away from it,” she said. “But it is important to determine what form reparations should take, and that is something that will emerge eventually.

“As difficult as the subject is, I believe countries will reach some conclusions. Whether that means financial payments or reparations in kind is ultimately a matter for the countries to decide.”

The former Ghanaian foreign minister told Sky News that reparations might include “concessional financing”, debt relief, action on climate-related concerns or the return of cultural artefacts.

Asked whether the King should apologise for slavery, Ms Botchwey replied: “That’s what the countries have asked for… It wouldn’t hurt to have that. Not at all.”

However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp dismissed the suggestion as “nonsense”, telling the Daily Mail: “People today aren’t responsible for what happened hundreds of years ago.

“Many societies appallingly practised slavery, including many in Africa. The UK was the first to enforce abolition. Calls for reparations are absurd and shouldn’t even be entertained.”

The comments come as Buckingham Palace said the King’s Caribbean tour next week would confront “the darkest days of our past”, amid continuing debate across the Commonwealth over slavery and reparations.

Charles is facing fresh pressure to apologise for the UK’s part in the transatlantic trade in enslaved people as he prepares to attend a major Commonwealth leaders’ meeting with Queen Camilla in Antigua and Barbuda next month.

Reparations, whether through financial compensation or other forms of redress from countries linked to the slave trade, are also expected to feature during his separate visits to Guyana and The Bahamas.

The King acts on the advice of his ministers, and it is understood that the Government has not asked him to issue an apology or support reparations, in line with its established position.

In March, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution describing the transatlantic slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity”. The UK and EU member states were among 52 countries that abstained.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who is expected to attend the Commonwealth summit alongside Prime Minister Andy Burnham, recently repeated the Government’s stance.

“I don’t think reparations are the answer,” he told Politico. “I’ve had those discussions already with some of our Commonwealth colleagues.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said earlier this month that governments were holding important discussions about the legacy of colonialism and the lasting effects of the transatlantic trade in enslaved people.

“While these are primarily matters for Governments to address, His Majesty’s previous statements on them have been unequivocal,” the spokesperson said, describing slavery as an “atrocity” that “forever stains our history”.

The Palace added that the visit would not avoid “the darkest days of our past”, as the King has described them. However, at the request of host nations, the programme will focus mainly on each country’s present and future, with schedules shaped in consultation with their governments and tailored to their priorities.

‘That said, it is important to note here the work His Majesty himself has done over many years both to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and to find creative ways to ‘right inequalities that endure’.

‘As you would therefore expect, opportunities will be found during the visit to reflect and renew his personal, wholehearted and continuing commitment to that process.’

Britain’s royal family has a long association with the transportation and selling of enslaved people for profit.

Elizabeth I backed the lucrative dealings of John Hawkins, one of Britain’s first slave traders, and Charles II encouraged the expansion of the enterprise, granting a charter to a group of men, the Royal Adventurers, who later became the Royal African Company, and invested private funds in the firm, as did the Duke of York.

The company’s charter said the initials ‘DY’ for Duke of York were branded on the left buttock or breast of many of the slaves the company shipped to what were called the ‘sugar islands’ in the Caribbean.

As the slavery abolitionists campaigned against the trade, they were opposed by the Duke of Clarence, George III’s son, later to become William IV.

Charles, head of the Commonwealth, acknowledged the ‘appalling atrocity of slavery’, describing it as something ‘which forever stains our history’, when he attended the ceremony marking Barbados’s historic transition to a republic in 2021.

A year later, he described how he was on a personal journey of discovery and was continuing to ‘deepen my own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact’, in a speech at the opening of a Commonwealth summit hosted by Rwanda.

Barbados’s Prime Minister Mia Mottley, whose administration ditched Queen Elizabeth II, led a group of Caribbean leaders who launched a new slavery reparations manifesto during a reparations conference held in Ghana in June.

The UK Government’s position on reparations is well established. It acknowledges the trade in enslaved people was abhorrent and its impact is still felt today, but it will not pay financial reparations for historical acts that did not break international laws at the time and is committed to continued dialogue with Commonwealth nations.

Last month a delegation from Jamaica travelled to the UK to file a petition asking the King to refer three questions about transatlantic chattel slavery to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the Caribbean island’s highest court of appeal.

Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, asked why her country should not seek slavery reparations when Britain was still paying off debt linked to slave-owner compensation just 11 years ago.

Charles will begin his Caribbean tour by visiting The Bahamas from October 27 to 29, followed by the state visit to Guyana, October 29 to 30 and attend Chogm during his trip to Antigua and Barbuda with the Queen from November 1 to 4.

A palace spokesperson previously highlighted the King’s comments about slavery during other Chogms, adding: ‘And it’s not just about what His Majesty has said, it’s about what he’s done – the personal support for Commonwealth education programmes since the last Chogm, and his support, over many decades, for young people through the King’s Trust.

‘This shows that he has always engaged in ways in which the inequalities of the past can be righted. But as far as reparations and apologies go, that is a matter for the Government.’

A Government spokesperson said: ‘The transatlantic slave trade was abhorrent. We fully recognise its horrific impacts and the ongoing strength of feeling it arouses. The UK’s position is clear: we do not and will not pay reparations.’

Beau Lamarre-Condon was exchanging casual messages with a childhood friend about Taylor Swift, dinner and a planned European trip while allegedly killing two people and concealing their bodies.

Lamarre-Condon, 31, is accused of fatally shooting his former boyfriend, Jesse Baird, and Baird’s new partner, Luke Davies, with his police-issued firearm inside a Paddington terrace on the morning of February 19, 2024.

He allegedly put the bodies in surfboard bags and left them beneath a tarp behind the terrace. Later that night, he is accused of moving them into a rented white Toyota HiAce van while Baird’s two housemates slept upstairs.

Lamarre-Condon has pleaded not guilty to two domestic violence-related murder charges and one count of break and enter. His trial is taking place before a jury in the NSW Supreme Court.

The court heard earlier this week that Lamarre-Condon allegedly persuaded a friend, identified under the pseudonym Elizabeth Kennedy for legal reasons, to help him hide the bodies.

Ms Kennedy told the court she did not know the van contained bodies when Lamarre-Condon collected her from home around lunchtime on February 21, two days after the alleged killings. She said he simply asked whether she “wanted to go for a drive”.

Court documents released this week include messages Ms Kennedy sent to Lamarre-Condon between February 20 and 23, covering the period before and after the bodies were allegedly dumped at Bungonia, about 200km south of Sydney.

Police were unable to recover Lamarre-Condon’s replies because they were sent through the encrypted messaging app Signal. His messages had been set to disappear 24 hours after being sent.

At 1.16pm on February 20, around 28 hours after the alleged double murder, Ms Kennedy messaged Lamarre-Condon: “You’re going to Taylor Swift the Saturday, right?”

She added: “I’m thinking of Taylor gating it I’m getting fomo [fear of missing out] after Melbourne haha.”

Earlier messages showed the pair had discussed buying as many tickets as possible for Taylor Swift’s Australian tour in 2023/24.

Ms Kennedy also asked whether Lamarre-Condon would listen to the concert from a nearby park because they had been unable to secure tickets.

His response was not included in the court documents, although Ms Kennedy appeared to be replying to one of his messages when she wrote: “Yeah I’m gonna do it.”

At 7.27am the next day, February 21, Ms Kennedy messaged him again: “Hey probably like 11 but I’m going to my mums for a couple of hours after why what’s up? Xx”

She followed up with: “[Oh my God] did you deactivate insta?”

The court has previously heard that Lamarre-Condon deactivated his Instagram account after the alleged murders.

Lamarre-Condon’s responses aren’t available, but Ms Kennedy appeared to reply to a number of his messages.

She wrote: ‘Perfect I’m just at work now will be ready to go at lunch time keep me updated xx’

‘Love you x.’

‘[My boyfriend] is putting a lot of effort into dinner so I said I’d be there.’

‘Perfect xx.’

Ms Kennedy told the court earlier this week that Lamarre-Condon had organised to collect her from home after lunch on February 21 to book accommodation for their planned Europe trip later in 2024.

She told Lamarre-Condon that her partner was making dinner and she wanted to be home in time, and had no idea he was going to drive her to Bungonia, 200km south of Sydney, the court heard.

When he picked her up near her house, she noticed a blue tarp in the back of the van, but she couldn’t see much because the van had a mesh cage between the back and the front.

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The court previously heard that Lamarre-Condon allegedly concealed Baird and Davies’ bodies inside two surfboard bags, underneath a blue tarp. 

Ms Kennedy told the court she was freezing during the trip because the air conditioning was on the coldest setting and the windows were open throughout the trip, and he wouldn’t let her adjust any of the settings.

They went to Bunnings in Goulburn to get an angle grinder because Lamarre-Condon said he had to break into a friend’s farm to stop cattle from escaping.

Once they arrived at Cella Farm in Bungonia, she saw him cut the lock at the front gate with the angle grinder and asked her to cover the rental van number plate with a garbage bag.

Ms Kennedy said he then drove around the back of the property, where she couldn’t see him anymore, and left her at the gate for about 40 minutes.

When Ms Kennedy was alone, she started panicking.

‘I was hyperventilating and crying,’ she told the court.

‘I had a panic attack, I was squatting, I wanted to turn my phone on… He came back and told me to shush because I was panicking and he asked if I’d called anyone and I said no.’

‘He said, “I’m going to take you home right now”, and I started to calm down.’

Ms Kennedy said it felt as though ‘something had gone wrong’ and Lamarre-Condon wanted a peach Lipton Iced Tea because he was going to be ‘up all night’, but didn’t explain why.

She arrived home at about 12am on February 22, and was ‘annoyed’ because she’d missed dinner with her partner and Lamarre-Condon wouldn’t let her turn her phone on to let him know she’d be late.

Court documents show Ms Kennedy tried to call Lamarre-Condon about a dozen times on February 22, between 12.20pm and 6pm.

Eventually, he called her on the encrypted messaging app Signal.

She told the court: ‘I saw the news the night before that Jesse was missing and I had some questions.

‘He said he couldn’t answer them on the phone, he said he was seeing police on Friday morning because he had a meeting with them.’

During the call, the court heard Ms Kennedy said to Lamarre-Condon: ‘Have you seen the news?’

The court heard he replied: ‘Yeah, it’s crazy. I have to go to Bondi Police Station to talk to detectives tomorrow.’

She asked: ‘Do you know where Jesse is?’

He replied: ‘No, it’s just crazy.’

The pair had planned to go to Europe together later that year. On the call, Lamarre-Condon allegedly said: ‘If I can’t go to Europe with you, I’m so sorry, I love you.’

She said: ‘It felt like a final call… He sounded apologetic, a bit stressed, and then he hung up and tried to call him back after that but the phone was off.’

Crown prosecutors allege Lamarre-Condon left Ms Kennedy at the gate of the property so he could dump the bodies himself.

He allegedly tried to sink the bodies using weights and cement, before abandoning that plan and instead leaving them to decay by a fence line, underneath rocks and tree foliage.

Ms Kennedy told the court she couldn’t smell anything in the van and had no idea what Lamarre-Condon was doing when he left her alone.

The case returns to court on Monday.