Property buyers in London are the most likely to be gazumped out of their purchase, found the latest research by online estate agent eMoov.co.uk.
Property Buyers in London Most Likely to be Gazumped
The agent asked 1,000 UK homeowners whether they were gazumped during their most recent property purchase. The results found that in the last two years, an over-inflating market has seen the practise of gazumping rise from 13% in 2015 to 36% in 2017.
Of the 36% of respondents who have been gazumped, the regional breakdown is as follows:
Although the capital’s property market has seen the largest wobble in buyer interest following the Brexit vote and more recent General Election, London buyers are still the most likely to be gazumped, with 35% of them saying that they have been pipped to the post on their most recent property sale.
Over the last two years, the average house price in the capital has surged by 17%, which could be an influential factor in the increasing number of homeowners being gazumped, which is up from 17% in 2015.
The South East has the second highest rate of gazumping, at 16%, with both this region and London also home to the highest average house prices of all UK areas.
However, the North West (9%), West Midlands (7%), and Yorkshire and the Humber (6%) have seen the next highest levels of gazumping, despite having much lower average house prices.
eMoov also asked those that have been gazumped which was the nearest major city to where they lived. Outside of London, the next highest level of gazumping was in Manchester, at 27%, Birmingham, at 26%, Leeds, at 23%, Cardiff, at 20%, Brighton, at 19%, and Southampton, at 19%.
The Founder and CEO of eMoov, Russell Quirk, responds to the findings: “Unfortunately, it would seem the practise 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 have remained hot where buyer demand is concerned.”
He continues: “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 cutthroat by a long shot, however, buyers are still being gazumped nationwide, from Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Brighton, Reading and Cardiff.”