Marsh and Parsons

Gazumping Returns

Peter Rollings — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:53:00 +0000

An increase in purchasers and a shortage of stock has lead to over 100 sealed bids across our London offices already this year. It comes as no surprise then, that we are seeing more and more situations of ‘gazumping’, a phenomenon that contrary to popular belief, is NOT advocated by Estate Agents.

Gazumping, is when a seller accepts a higher offer from a buyer, despite having already accepted an offer from another purchaser. This can be very frustrating for the ‘gazumpee’, who in some cases, will have already committed financially to legal fees and surveys, as well as the emotional attachment to buying a new home.

However, as the law currently stands, if an agent receives an increased offer at any time prior to an exchange of contracts, they are legally obliged to submit the offer to their clients. In actual fact, it is a criminal offence not to do so, not just a civil offence which would be bad enough.

Video blog: London bouncing back!

Peter Rollings — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:41:00 +0000

Welcome to the latest Marsh & Parsons video blog giving an overview of the summer market and going forward, an insight into how we see the re-growth of the London property market over the next few months.

To summarise; market activity has picked up considerably, with double the amount of buyers registering in August compared to the same period last year (over 1,000!). Contrary to popular belief, there is actually plenty of cash around, with owners and investors alike looking to put their money back into property. Mortgage lending is starting to gain momentum, although there is still a long way to go, and this is helping the first-time buyer end of the market. Although stock is still a problem, we’re seeing a firm “bounce back” of the London property market which, barring any nasty surprises, we anticipate continuing for the remainder of this year and into 2010.

What the rest of 2009 holds…

Peter Rollings — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:42:00 +0000

The last few months have been an exciting time to be involved with the selling of property in London. Having experienced some 18 months of falling prices, in February, we consider that the bottom of the market in London was reached and at the time we were confident of a gradual return to a more stable property market with an eye on sustainable long term growth in both capital values and rental returns and to a large extent this still rings true. However, what has surprised us somewhat is the robust, even dramatic recovery in prices in the Capital, in some cases, in some areas close to their ‘peak’ values.

Prices had fallen extremely rapidly and therefore I suppose it’s not such a surprise that they seem to have rebounded quite so quickly in London. Consider that in the last major recession from 1989-1993, property prices dwindled by 20-25% over a four year period and this time they fell in many cases by 30% in an 18 month period.

If only it was that simple

Peter Rollings — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:13:00 +0000

Starting with the massive media blitz launch of ‘Easier’ some 8 years ago it has always been the dream of entrepreneurs to launch a website that enabled house sellers to advertise their property at a fraction of the cost that estate agents charge. There have been many since Easier that have tried and failed, so the launch of Tepilo is not at all surprising. I do however think that Sarah Beeny, a highly experienced and talented property ‘guru’ is being disingenuous in promoting the site as a panacea.

I know what you're thinking. As an Estate Agent, I would say this wouldn’t I? In essence, yes, of course I would, but it is important that home owners are not fooled into thinking that selling privately is as simple as putting their property on an advertising website—if only that were true. This is just one of a magnitude of tasks a good agent will do in order to secure the best possible price for their clients.

Rose tinted spectacles?

Peter Rollings — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:49:00 +0000

I read an article on Tuesday this week in the Telegraph, in which the writer was of the view that property professionals who saw improvements in the housing market were wearing “rose tinted spectacles.” Neither he nor I can actually predict what is going to happen to the property market in the coming months but I wanted to share how Marsh & Parsons is currently experiencing the market in London. Firstly, it’s obviously nonsense to depict the entire UK housing market as one entity. It’s made up of many micro markets with specific conditions. The fact remains that buyers continue to enter the market in great numbers. Sales are being agreed most within 4% of the asking price, some in excess of the asking price and although mortgages are still hard to come by, prices in some specific areas of the capital have actually returned to where they were at the height of the boom. This is because of one fundamental – lack of available stock. It may sound crazy but it is true all the same.*