Many vendors slashed their asking prices in the last quarter of 2013, tempting buyers back into the market, claims a new report.

House sales were given a boost in the last few months of 2013 by desperate vendors slashing their asking prices by as much as 40pc, claims a new report by the Spanish property portal Pisos.com.

Vendors using the portal to market their properties reduced their asking prices by up to 40pc in the last quarter of 2013, though reductions of 25pc to 35pc were more numerous.

As a result, sales activity at the portal rose at the end of last year, as investors and cash buyers took advantage of dramatically lower prices in some areas, claim Pisos.com.

The biggest reductions of up to 40pc in just 3 months were to be found in Roquetas de Mar, Puerto de Santa María, and Alhaurín el Grande, all of them in Andalusia.

Asking price reductions of more than 30pc could also be found in Torrevieja (Alicante province, home to the Costa Blanca).

Excess housing inventories in some coastal areas partly explain the tumbling asking prices, as vendors finally start to capitulate after holding out for years. “Although the average price reduction in 2013 was not above 10pc, a large glut of homes in some areas forced prices down to attract buyers,” said Miguel Angel Alemany, head of Pisos.com. “Anyone now looking for a second home near the beach will face some excellent opportunities.”