Just over 30% of properties currently on the market have been reduced in price with the average discount of 8%, figures from Zoopla reveal.

Seven out of 10 towns with the largest share of reduced properties stood in the north of England and these areas are also home to the biggest discount, with all top 10 towns with the largest asking price reductions located in the region.

Darlington tops the list for the highest proportion of reduced-price properties with nearly half (45%) being marked down by an average of £10,599.

This is followed by South Shields and Middlesbrough with 43% and 42% respectively, averaging a discount of more than £9,000.

Stockton-on-Tees has the highest asking price reduction, with an average discount of 8%, knocking £11,532 off the list price.

Hartlepool and South Shields follow in second and third place, with reductions of 7.8% and 7.71% (£13,654 and £9,323).

In London 32% of properties for sale have had their asking price reduced – down slightly from 33% last December – with an average discount of 7.52% (£57,323).

The borough of Merton has the greatest proportion of reduced price listings (39%) and the biggest price decreases can be found in the London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea (7.65% or £135,702) and Westminster (7.2% or £124,144).

At the other end of the scale, asking prices in Enfield, Swindon and Milton Keynes have been reduced the least, with discounts of 4.31% (£28,271), 4.38% (£12,101) and 4.39% (£16,303) respectively.

Property asking prices in Newham have remained resilient as the borough had the lowest proportion of reductions with 23.19% of listings for sale at a discounted rate. This is closely followed by Tower Hamlets (26.23%) and the City of London (26.42%).

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla, said: “While the number of properties on the market with a price reduction has remained flat since December, those that have been discounted have seen a bigger reduction since the end of last year. This is still good news for those looking to get onto the property ladder.

“With some thorough research first-time buyers could be in with a better chance of spotting a bargain by filtering their property searches by ‘Most Reduced’ and set up email alerts to help them be the first to know about homes that have been discounted.”