In Brighton 34.9% of people have had homes gazumped compared to 22% on average in the whole of the UK.
This is also a common occurrence in the competitive London market, as 31.9% of buyers in the capital have had a chosen property snatched from their grasp. The rise of sealed bidding in the capital makes it especially easy to be outbid later on after having the initial offer rejected.
Russell Quirk, chief executive of eMoov.co.uk, said: “It is one of those things in the current structure of property purchasing unfortunately.
“Buyers that have displayed honest interest in a property only to be let down by owners with pound signs in their eyes, often encouraged by traditional estate agent looking to increase his fee percentage.”
Outside the South East the average gazumping rate drops from 22% to 18%.
In Birmingham 27% of property buyers in the area have been gazumped, while 21% have had that happen in Sheffield, 21% in Bristol and 20% in Leeds and Nottingham.
Liverpool was the least affected area of England for gazumping, at just 13%.
Of those that had been previously gazumped 27% were over properties of £500,000 or above.
This drops to 25% for properties valued between £200,000 and £500,000 and a further 6% for properties under £200,000.
Quirk added: “If these markets cool off too much, we could see gazundering coming back in.
“This is a tactic in areas with little demand where the buyer calls up just before the exchange of contracts and demands to pay less.”
