Sellers in the south of England are now accepting bigger discounts to offload their properties, research claims.

Analysis by property data provider Hometrack showed homes in southern England were selling for discounts of up to 4.8% in the first quarter of 2018 compared with under 2% during 2016.

Oxford and London saw the biggest increases in discounts, growing from from under 2% in 2016 to 4.8% in the first three months of this year, while properties in Cambridge moved from selling at a premium of 1% over asking price to a discount of around 3%.

Southampton and Portsmouth also saw discounts on asking prices increase from 2% to 3%, while northern parts of England saw cuts narrow.

Birmingham and Manchester had the smallest discount of 2.6%, while in Scotland Edinburgh properties were selling at a premium of almost 7%.

Aberdeen was the only northern city to buck the trend of discounts narrowing, registering a 9.6% cut.

The data forms part of Hometrack’s UK Cities House Price Index which found that growth in the 20 main parts of the UK increased to 4.9% in April from 4.6% in March, but is now running behind the 6.9% yearly growth registered over the previous five years.

The largest annual growth was in Manchester at 7.7% to £161,700 while Aberdeen saw a 7.2% decline to £173,200.

Richard Donnell, insight director at Hometrack, said: “The strength of house price growth and level of discounting from asking prices reveals how the current housing cycle continues to unfold. The overall pace of overall city level growth has lost momentum as a result of virtually static prices in London and slower growth across southern England.

“Weaker consumer confidence and modest increase in mortgage rates are also impacting demand and mortgage approvals for home purchase have drifted lower in the last quarter. The cities index reveals how macro and local factors such as the strength of the local economy and the relative affordability of housing are influencing the pace and direction of house price growth.”