Cases of gazundering have fallen across the property market since the start of the year, but one in five sellers was still lowballed by their buyer having previously accepted a higher offer over the past six months, House Buyer Bureau has found.
This was a drop from February 2023, when as many as 31% of home sellers had been gazundered.
Of those to have experienced gazundering, 47% were affected within two weeks of their completion date.
73% of those who had been gazundered stated they had no other choice but to accept the lower offer.
The main reason was that they did not want to jeopardise their onward purchase (32%), while many sellers also did not want to waste time finding another buyer (24%).
The main reason given by gazundering buyers for submitting a lower offer was that issues were found with the property during the survey stage of the transaction (36%), although as many as 22% also admitted to simply taking a chance.
Of those sellers who did not accept the lower offer, 34% stated that the sale then went on to collapse, up from 21% in February of this year.
Chris Hodgkinson, managing director of House Buyer Bureau, said: “It would appear that while the market is still underperforming, an air of growing stability has at least led to a reduced level of gazundering on the part of buyers.
“That said, one in five sellers are still being subject to a lower offer, many within two weeks of their intended completion data.
“With the ability to find a buyer in a proceedable position proving difficult at present, many sellers are left with little choice but to take the hit on asking price if they want to move and, for those who don’t, there’s a high chance their sale will collapse.”
