Nearly 40% of property deals featured gazundering before Xmas

A spike in gazundering has been reported, particularly in the South of England where house prices are higher.

House buying firm Quick Move Now says 39% of the properties it sold during November were subject to gazundering, up from 13% the previous month.

The company says it has not seen gazundering at this level for 16 years, with a quarter of deals affected last month.

Fall through

Most of the sales that experienced gazundering in December were completed at a lower selling price, but 17% saw the sale fall through, the Daily Telegraph reports.

We have not seen gazundering volumes like this since 2008.”

Danny Luke, MD at Quick Move Now, says: “Anecdotally, we have not seen gazundering volumes like this since 2008.

“Some buyers lower their offers last-minute because they have a change in financial circumstances or their mortgage company won’t lend them as much as planned; others simply want to take advantage of their strong position in the current market.”

David Fell, Lead Analyst at Hamptons, says some potential buyers are looking at properties outside their price range: “These viewings are most likely to take place across the south of the country, where loans tend to be higher relative to incomes, and house prices have come under most downward pressure from higher mortgage rates.”

Double

Arlington Residential, an estate agency in north west London, reported almost one in 10 homes it sold in 2023 being hit by gazundering, double the amount in 2020.

London estate agency Johns&Co asks buyers to provide a non-refundable deposit after their offer is accepted.

Estate agency property sales blighted by rise in gazundering