'Gazundering' leaving sellers out of pocket |
09 2008 |
| As house prices continue to suffer in the current economic downturn, the trend of 'gazundering' is increasingly rearing its head in the UK market. The phenomenon involves buyers suddenly lowering their original offer on a property just as the deal is on the verge of completion, forcing sellers into a nasty dilemma. Kevin Shaw, sales director at national estate agency chain Haart, explains that with the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) predicting prices to be seven per cent lower at the end of 2008 compared to 2007, the rise of gazundering is inevitable. He told the Daily Mail: "Sales are taking longer because mortgages are more difficult to arrange in the current climate. "The buyer sees reports that prices have fallen and wants to chop ten per cent off the agreed sale price. In some cases, it's more than ten per cent." The trend is the natural antithesis to 'gazumping', which has been taking place over the past decade as the market enjoyed a significant boom. And while both are ethically questionable and undoubtedly leave someone out of pocket every time, both are legal in the unregulated property markets of England and Wales.  |
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