Stevenage has one of the strongest sellers' markets in England, with the average home sale in the district achieving almost 100 per cent of asking price last year.

According to research from GetAgent, vendors in the town walked away with an average of 99.8 per cent of asking price during 2021, tying with Liverpool.

Only Sheffield (101.4 per cent), Waltham Forest and Gravesham (both 99.9 per cent) performed better, while the average across Herts was 96.8 per cent.

St Albans was the next best performing district with an average of 97.6 per cent, followed by East Herts (97.5 per cent), Dacorum (97.4 per cent) and Broxbourne (97.3 per cent).

North Herts and Watford both achieved an average of 97.2 per cent of asking price, followed by Welwyn Hatfield (97.1 per cent), Three Rivers (96.7 per cent) and Hertsmere (96.3 per cent).

The average home seller in England as a whole achieved 97.9 per cent of asking price last year according to GetAgent's data, which was sourced from property portals and the Land Registry.

The worst performing area of the market was the City of London, where buyers paid just 89 per cent of asking price – the only area to fall below the 90 per cent threshold.

Founder and CEO of GetAgent, Colby Short, said: “It’s very much a sellers' market at present, as buyers continue to enter the market at mass and fight it out for limited levels of available stock.

"That doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re prepared to pay above the odds to secure a home and just one area of the market has seen the average seller achieve above asking price in 2021.

"However, what we’ve certainly seen is the traditional practice of negotiating the price down all but vanish, as buyers pay very close to the original asking price right off the bat in order to secure a purchase."

Colby added: "With interest rates climbing along with the cost of living, we could see this start to subside in 2022 as buyers can’t quite pack the same financial punch and this will inevitably lead to a reduction in the level of asking price achieved.”