Buy! Buy! Buy!

For buyers, it's finally back to the good old days. After months of famine, houses are trickling onto the market and tales abound of dramatically reduced asking prices. Price cuts of about 25 per cent are seeing a resurgence in London house sales, which sends the strongest signal yet — the buyers' market is back.

Agents reported twice as many offers — and twice as many accepted offers — in February as they saw in January this year.

"Normally, we would have around the same number of offers in both months," says Ed Mead of Douglas & Gordon. "So the fact that we did twice the business in February as in the previous month certainly suggests things are looking up. We are seeing a sea-change in the market as buyers really feel that asking prices are now at the right level. ­Secondly, there is very little up for sale, so that also has an effect. I believe that we're finally seeing prices begin to ­bottom out."

Although many vendors still feel the pain of cutting so deeply into their original asking price — one seller, who didn't want to be named, compared it to giving the "house away with a packet of cornflakes" — at least they are ­seeing far more interest in their properties and sales. Some vendors report dozens of viewings and multiple bids, once they have reduced by on average 25 per cent from the peak value.

Some have even seen minor bidding wars, or at least competitive bids, once they have received one firm offer. At least one vendor we spoke to sold above the reduced asking price as a result of competing bids. "It seems as if once one dares to go in, the others feel it is somehow safe to plunge in, too," she said.

Lindsay Cuthill of Savills says: "It's a game of chess, choosing how much to discount the price or whether to keep it the same price publicly but make it clear you will take a significantly lower offer. But property certainly does feel a lot more affordable now and if you have the money, with interest rates what they are, what else are you going to do with it?"

I SLASHED MY PRICE TO GET A QUICK SALE, THEN KNOCKED £100,000 OFF THE PRICE OF MY NEW HOUSE

Setting up home with a new partner

Slash factor: 15 per cent from £530,000 to £450,000

Where? Holloway

Status: Accepted an offer

Journalist Deborah Maby remembers when her three-bedroom house in Holloway was worth £630,000 — its valuation two years ago. "That's a far-off dream now," she says. But wanting to move in with her new partner and having found their perfect house for a new life together, she put it on the market in December for a seemingly realistic £520,000.

"We had plenty of viewers but no sale. In the meantime, we had done something really stupid: looked at one house only, which we had fallen completely in love with.

"So after returning from holiday in India at Christmas, we asked the agent to knock £20,000 off the price, a mere month after putting it on the market, to show we meant business.

"Yet more people trooped around being polite about my fireplaces but still no sale. Then, two weeks ago, I was offered £450,000. I accepted it without a second thought. After all, I bought the house 10 years ago for just £250,000."

Meanwhile, Deborah and her new partner have had an offer accepted on a house that was initially up for sale five months ago at £900,000.

"They've agreed to take £800,000 so we're going with it. We even allowed ourselves a half-bottle of champagne the night our offer was accepted — although we are aware that anything can still happen.

"Nevertheless, so far it's been, if anything, a less painful process than 10 years ago.

"For one thing, we've had full care and attention from our agent and certainly no gazumping to worry about.

"It shows that you can sell if you're straightforward and prepared to slash the price."

A BIDDING WAR BEGAN ONCE WE HAD A FIRM OFFER

The lawyer leaving London

Slash factor: 35 per cent from £600,000 to £390,000

Where? West Hampstead

Status: sold

David Coulter and his family were keen to start a new life in the Derbyshire countryside, well away from the pressures of London. His wife had landed an enviable job as a deputy headteacher, and their two sons were offered places in their schools of choice.

They even found their dream house, where they could finally keep a dog, and bought it, confident that they would quickly sell their three-bedroom flat in West Hampstead. "We thought it would be all so straightforward," said Mr Coulter.

That was last March, when four separate estate agents said it was worth £600,000. After a brief flurry of interest, viewers disappeared completely as spring turned into summer and the economy dived. "We moved up to Derbyshire in July, we had no choice," says Mr Coulter.

"We steadily cut the price in chunks of £20,000 or £30,000 but absolutely nothing happened. The flat was empty so we tried to rent it, but that didn't work either."

Finally, at breaking point, the Coulters reduced the price in October by 35 per cent from its original valuation to £395,000, pretty quickly prompting an offer of £367,500.

"We reluctantly accepted it, but two days before we were due to exchange, somebody came in with a much higher offer of £390,000. So I'm afraid we gazumped the first buyer and went with them. There didn't seem to be any rules any more. The property market has become like the Wild West, anything goes as long as you sell."

CUTTING MY PRICE TO A REALISTIC LEVEL PROVED IT IS A GOOD TIME TO BUY

Venture capitalist retiring to the West Country

Slash factor: 25 per cent from £1.695 million to £1.295 million

Where? Wimbledon

Status: Three offers, now competitive bids

After 30 years in London and a successful career in venture capital, Ian Mabbutt wants a simpler life in the West Country. His substantial house in Wimbledon would make a great home for almost any family, so when he put it on the market in February 2008 for £1.695 million there were 12 viewers within the first three weeks. Many came back for a second or third look. Two offers came in for near the asking price. He selected one but on the day of exchange in March the buyer pulled out.

"I think they got spooked by the Bear Stearns collapse," recalls Mr Mabbutt. "It then went completely quiet with all the banks collapsing. After the pictures of boxes being taken out of Lehman Brothers, there were no viewers at all."

Despondent, Mr Mabbutt took the house off the market at the end of last year. But he was prompted by a recent article in the Evening Standard to ring his agent, Savills, and try putting it back on at a 25 per cent discount. He was immediately besieged with viewings and within 10 days received three firm offers very near the new asking price. With a fourth in the offing, Mr Mabbutt is giving bidders 10 days to come up with their best and final offers.

"Reducing the price by 25 per cent provided clarity for everyone," he says. "I am very pleased indeed at the response. It proves that it is a good time to buy and I'll now be looking to do so in Dorset or Devon."

I REDUCED MY ASKING PRICE and HAD A QUEUE OF BUYERS

Empty nester looking to downsize

Slash factor: 25 per cent from £4 million to £2.95 million

Where? Notting Hill

Status: Accepted an offer

Two of Katie Cardona's three children have left home, so she put her five/six bedroom family house in Chepstow Villas on the market last summer to move somewhere smaller.

"I just didn't want to rattle around this big place any more," she says. "It's in a glamorous street and normally you would expect a great deal of interest and a sale within three weeks. We just chose the wrong time to downsize.

"The market just seized up. The few viewers we had seemed reluctant to offer or couldn't get finance. We cut the price last year to £3.4 million but it still didn't work. But when we reduced the price again a month ago to £2.95 million, the difference was phenomenal.

"We've had this splurge of people pouring through the door, more than 25 of them. Some have been busy making offers. I had three within days, and realised it was going to sell at a price I could live with.

"It seemed that once one offer was in, people felt it was safe to make their own, perhaps higher, bid. I have accepted an offer. I see no real point in waiting forever for the market to come up again as other places are cheaper, too."