Lowest chance of being gazumped in nation
NORTH EAST SELLERS MOST LIKELY TO STICK TO PROPERTY AGREEMENT
WE’VE come last in a league table – but couldn’t be happier.
New research has crowned the region as the least likely place in England where you could fall victim to gazumping.
But property website eMoov says the practice – where sellers pull out of a deal because they get a better offer – is still rife in other parts of the country.
The North East was the bestperforming region in a survey carried out by the website.
It said only 4% of buyers here said they had been gazumped.
The figure compares with 35% in London – the worst region – and the second-placed South East where the practice is running at 16%.
But the survey said we’re not the best in the wider United Kingdom.
The 4% equals Wales but is worse than Northern Ireland at 2% and Scotland at 1%.
The survey revealed instances of gazumping have increased to 36% in the UK as a whole compared to 13% two years ago.
Founder and CEO of eMoov.co.uk, Russell Quirk, said: “Unfortunately, it would seem the practice of gazumping is once again becoming more prominent as market values continue to climb higher.
“Traditionally it becomes rife in over-inflated markets where high demand, and higher prices, push buyers to resort to dirty tactics in their desperation to secure the property they want.
“In the last few months, the market across the UK and London has cooled due to levels of uncertainty with the addition of a fall in stock levels, but despite this, there are pockets of the capital, and elsewhere around the UK, that has remained hot where buyer demand is concerned.
“This is demonstrated by some of the more affordable regions of the UK also seeing some of the largest levels of gazumping, such as the North West and the Midlands.
“The London market remains the most cut throat by a long shot, however, buyers are still being gazumped nationwide from Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Brighton, Reading and Cardiff.”