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House prices fall or rise (take your pick)
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House prices went up slightly – by 0.4% – in July, the Land Registry has reported. It

Knight Frank stay quiet after conman is jailed
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A tenant who faked his identity when renting through Knight Frank has been jailed for three

Rich overseas buyers keep prime London market aloft
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Chinese buyers are expected to replace Russian investors as major players in the prime central London

Moving occasion: today's the day!
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The most popular moving date is today, September 1, the Post Office has revealed. The two next

Prospective first-time buyers sink to new low
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The proportion of buyers expecting to buy for the first time in the next 12 months

Housing market 'edging towards double dip' claim
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Net lending plummeted in July to the second lowest monthly figure since records began in 1993,

Henry Pryor Blog
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Welcome to a new monthly blog by Henry Pryor, estate agent turned entrepreneur, inventor and expert

Rightmove profits climb 39% as more agents sign up
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A rise in the number of agents and an overall willingness to pay more to Rightmove

Portal creates new 'check out your competition' stats
1 comments
Property portal Home has created some new statistic pages on its site which we reckon will

Six in ten mortgages are now for house purchase
2 comments
The proportion of mortgages being taken out for purchases, as opposed to remortgages, is at its

News Story

Gazumping back in London and south-east

Friday 22nd May 2009

Gazumping has made a return in London and parts of the south-east, as an ever-dwindling supply of new property stock pushes up prices.

Peter Rollings, managing director of London estate agent Marsh & Parsons, said: “The choke on mortgage finance is stifling buyers who want to take advantage of the value there is in the property market at the moment: if they haven’t got a large deposit, then they’re simply out of the property game.

“But there are a lot of people who do have cash to invest, and they’re throwing it into property right, left and centre. The London property market is bursting with good quality buyers, keen to take advantage at knockdown prices. Even in spite of the lack of mortgage finance available, there’s stiff competition for the best properties.

“However, due to a chronic shortage of stock on the market, the days of gazumping seem to be back, and more properties are going to sealed bids. Anyone who thinks they can bid way below a sensible asking price is dreaming.”

James Human, partner at Cluttons, agreed, saying there is now a “drastic” shortage of property for sale in central London.

He said: “The dearth of property for sale has been largely caused by potential sellers deciding against putting their property on the market for fear of failing to secure a mortgage on a new home.”

Cliff Gardiner of The Buying Solution, the property search agency wing of Knight Frank, says it is advising buyers to walk away from deals rather than over-pay.

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Posted By phil on Friday 22nd May 2009 20:55:15

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im in the north west its just starting to happen here we have had 2 this week! quite exciting really just like the old days

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Posted By david b on Friday 22nd May 2009 18:21:36

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As soon as the next wave of repos hits the market and next round of redundancies takes place the so called (illusory)shortage will disappear. Good attempt though to hype the market and try to drum up some trade.

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Posted By Scrap Hips on Friday 22nd May 2009 11:16:12

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In the dim distant past Hips were supposedly being brought in to address issues such as gazzumping. How ironic that because they are causing many people not to market this has caused a chronic shortage of property for sale and as a result buyers are fighting over them and hence we have gazzumping again. Well done to the Tories for tabling the EDM to seek to get rid of them. I am sure we would see an immediate increase in the number of properties for sale, resulting in more sales and perhaps a much needed kick start to the economy

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Editorial Contact Details - Rosalind Renshaw | rosalind.renshaw@estateagenttoday.co.uk | 01252 843 566.