On average across the UK a fifth of the nation (22%) have experienced gazumping, but Brighton topped the pole with 34.9% of people having been previously gazumped when buying a property.
In the London market, gazumping is also over the national average, with 31.9% in the capital coming within touching distance of a purchase. The tactic of sealed bidding, particularly rife in the capital, provides the ideal environment for potential gazumpers.
Outside of the South East the average drops from 22% to 18%. Birmingham figures show 27% of property buyers in the area have been gazumped with Sheffield at 22%, Bristol at 21%, Leeds and Nottingham at 20%.
Liverpool was the least affected area of England for gazumping at just 13%, however this doesn’t necessarily put an end to unethical behaviour during the buying process.
Although gazumping is not a new concept it has become a more regular occurrence across the country. The research also found that the higher the price of the property, the more likely you are to be gazumped. Of those that had been previously gazumped 27% were over properties of £500,000 or above. This dropped to 25% for properties valued between £200,000 and £500,000 and a further 6% for properties under £200,000.
Property Expert Russell Quirk, CEO of online estate agent eMoov.co.uk commented:
“It is one of those things in the current structure of property purchasing unfortunately. Buyers that have displayed honest interest in a property only to be let down by owners with pound signs in their eyes, often encouraged by traditional estate agent looking to increase his fee percentage.
“If these markets cool off too much, we could see gazundering coming back in. This is a tactic in areas with little demand where the buyer calls up just before the exchange of contracts and demands to pay less.”
