Almost a third of UK home sellers are being gazundered by their buyers, many of whom are seeing their potential buyer drop their offer just a week before the sale was set to complete, according to new research.
House Buyer Bureau commissioned a survey of just over 1,100 UK home sellers to have sold a home in the last six months, which found that as many as 31% had experienced gazundering.
For just over half – 51% – of respondents, this happened more than two weeks before they were due to exchange. Some 15% stated it had happened within two weeks of their exchange date, while as many as 33% said it had happened within a week of their exchange date.
What’s more, as many as 75% decided to press ahead with the transaction, accepting the lower offer. Of those that did not, 21% said the sale ended up collapsing.
When asked why they decided to continue on with their original buyer, the predominant reason given was that the seller believed the lower offer was still a fair one.
The second most common reason given was that they did not want to jeopardise their onward sale, while many sellers also did not want to waste more time finding another buyer.
When asked what the reason was for their buyer gazundering them, the most common reasons given were that there were issues found during the survey process, as well as survey issues resulting in a down valuation.
However, many sellers also stated that they believed their buyer was just chancing their arm in order to secure a discount.
The MD of House Buyer Bureau, Chris Hodgkinson, said: “We’ve heard a lot in recent years about the backhanded practice of gazumping, with high demand and inadequate stock levels resulting in many buyers trying to outbid their rivals right to the death.
“However, the market has certainly dropped down a gear or two in recent months and we’ve started to see the record rates of pandemic house price growth start to subside.
“Despite these cooling market conditions, there remains an air of stubbornness amongst the nation’s sellers who are yet to fully accept this change in market temperature and, as a result, almost a third are being gazundered with a lower offer having originally agreed a price with their buyer.
“While this trend is being driven by opportunistic buyers to some extent, it’s important to note that in many cases, it’s due to issues found during the survey and the resulting down valuation. Therefore, while many sellers are being gazundered, they are proceeding on the basis that the secondary offer made is still a fair one.
“This is quite a natural occurrence in any market conditions and so buyers should be advised that, while there may be further room for negotiation after their offer is accepted, acting bullishly in order to lowball their seller could result in them losing out on their dream home.”
| Data Tables | ||
| Survey of 1,104 recent UK home sellers (last six months) to have experienced gazundered carried out by ProperPR on behalf of House Buyer Bureau via consumer research platform Find Out Now (16th February 2023). | ||
| Thinking about your recent property sale, between the point you accepted an offer and the exchange of contracts, did the intended buyer lower their offer? | ||
| Answer | Respondents | |
| Yes | 31% | |
| No | 69% | |
| If yes, how close to the exchange of contracts did this happen? | ||
| Answer | Respondents | |
| A week (seven days) | 33% | |
| Two weeks | 15% | |
| More than two weeks | 51% | |
| Did you accept this reduced offer? | ||
| Answer | Respondents | |
| Yes | 75% | |
| No | 25% | |
| If you didn’t accept this offer, did the sale collapse as a result? | ||
| Answer | Respondents | |
| Yes | 21% | |
| No | 79% | |
| If you did accept the lower offer, why did you choose to do so? | ||
| Answer | Respondents | |
| We still thought the lower offer was fair | 25% | |
| Didn’t want to jeopardise our onward purchase | 23% | |
| We didn’t want to waste more time finding another buyer | 19% | |
| We didn’t want to go through the selling process again | 12% | |
| We liked the buyer and wanted to sell to them | 9% | |
| We had to move quickly to a deadline, due to reasons such as relocating abroad etc | 8% | |
| We had already incurred costs associated with selling a house | 4% | |
| Did your buyer provide a reason for their lower offer? | ||
| Answer | Respondents | |
| Property issues found during the survey | 33% | |
| Down valuation on the property | 25% | |
| Chancing their arm | 19% | |
| Their mortgage was adjusted due to increasing mortgage rates | 11% | |
| No explanation | 8% | |
| They could no longer afford the offer due to the cost of living crisis | 5% | |
These statistics are a great reason all estate agents should be assisting their clients to prepare their property for sale. Not just the clean de cluttering but the paper work as well. why not get the searches and survey UP Front? You would if you were selling a car.
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Here’s a few others that would help from a surveyor’s point of view:
* Copy of gas inspection for us to collect with the keys or from the vendor – gets an immediate Green 1 instead of an immediate Red 3.
* Ditto for the electrics
* Any relevant guarantee documentation – windows, doors, conservatories, works done to the gas & electrics, cavity wall insulation, that kind of thing
* Keys for the freaking garage!!! OMG, how can you expect a surveyor to do their job if they can’t get access to 100% of the property being purchased.
* Knowing which garage needs to be looked at – see comment above. Seriously!
All of the above turn a report from an apparent red nightmare into a green dream.
I have never understood why all estate agents don’t compile a “surveyor’s info pack”. It would make everything much easier for everyone involved.
(And yes, I know that some of you do honestly know which garage it is, but you would be surprised at how many have no idea at all).
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