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Gazanging | Uncertain home-sellers opt to stay put
Volatile house prices and a lack of homes ‘for sale’ are driving a new property market phenomenon - gazanging.
New research from property legal website In-Deed suggests that more than 54,000 home buyers (19 per cent) in the first half of this year have had sales fall through because sellers changed their minds and opted to stay put.
This represents a 20 per cent increase on the previous half year, with gazanging now more likely to affect buyers than gazumping, which plagued the market during the last property boom.
Uncertainty about the property market and an under-supply of suitable homes are major drivers of gazanging, according to the findings, which also found that inefficient legal processes are exacerbating the problem.
More than a quarter (28 per cent) of sellers who opted to stay put say that they could not find a suitable property to purchase. This is borne out by market data, which shows that the number of transactions has declined by a quarter in the last 12 months.
Many gazangers also appear to be getting ‘cold feet’ due to concerns about the market – with almost one in eight (12 per cent) saying they changed their mind because they were unsure about what would happen to house prices.
Frustrations about the home-buying process – and particularly the legal side – are also contributing to the problem, with nearly one in six (16 per cent) saying they were ‘fed up’ with delays and complications.
The study was commissioned by In-Deed, a new service that takes the stress out of the legal side of home-buying using web and mobile technology to let users track every stage of the process.
Commenting on the findings, TV property expert Phil Spencer said:
“In such a volatile market, it’s not that surprising that many more sellers are changing their minds at the last minute, especially when there are so few suitable homes available.
“One thing buyers can do to help prevent gazanging is to ensure that they use the most efficient legal service available.
For those wanting to find out more about gazanging and how to avoid it, Phil Spencer has created a vodcast with help and advice at http://www.In-Deed.net.
Gazanging Figures
| Period | Number of House Purchasers | % House Purchasers who have had a purchase agreed then fall through not due to any action they took | % House Purchasers who have had a purchase agreed then fall through due to gazumping | % House Purchasers who have had a purchase agreed then fall through due to gazanging |
| January - June 2011 | 295,781 | 40.2% (118.9 thousand) | 15.3% (45.3 thousand) | 18.5% (54.7 thousand) |
| July - December 2010 | 398,501 | 29.0% (115.6 thousand) | 10.1% (40.2 thousand) | 15.4% (61.4 thousand) |
| July 2009 - June 2010 | 758,277 | 31.0% (235.1 thousand) | 12.9% (97.8 thousand) | 11.2% (84.9 thousand) |
Home Sales 2010-2011 (Land Registry)
| Month | Sales 2011 (England and Wales) | Sales 2010 (England and Wales) | Difference (%) |
| January | 37,380 | 35,842 | 4% |
| February | 39,362 | 42,534 | -7% |
| March | 46,114 | 51,412 | -10% |
| April | 49,608 | 52,282 | -5% |
| May | 46,870 | 52,170 | -10% |
| June | 46,700* | 62,750 | -25% |
*CML figure, number of house purchase loans (Land Registry figures not yet available)