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With an acute shortage of homes driving up the house prices the number of sealed bids taking place in the UK housing market has risen dramatically in the last year, according to the recent survey from The County Homesearch Company.
While the number of sealed bids remained fairly static during 2005, findings from the latest County Homesearch survey indicate that 60% of respondents had seen a significant rise during 2006.
Sealed bids are now increasingly commonplace in many areas of the UK, fuelled by the lack of top end properties entering the market combined with an increase in the number of buyers looking to secure a large detached country home.
Jonathan Haward, managing director of the County Homesearch Company, said "Sealed bids are back on the table, with the majority focused around prime properties in good locations. However, a sealed bid can be incredibly stressful for potential buyers who are often unfamiliar with the process and unsure of how to handle the situation to their advantage.
"Our expertise puts us in an ideal position to give our clients the greatest possible opportunity to secure the home the so desperately desire."
He said that buyers are increasingly fussy - but not about price. While respondents of the survey indicated that on the whole buyers were becoming increasingly fussy, in particular with reference to the location and style of their next home, price was one area where buyers appeared willing to compromise - with 63% of respondents suggesting that their clients have become more flexible on price over the last year, and this trend is predicted to continue into 2007.
Senior professionals with families have traditionally been the main group to use property finding services. However, the latest survey reveals that this client base is now switching towards younger buyers, with an increasing number of younger professionals, income rich yet time poor, now adopting to use the service.
In the latest survey, young professionals took up poll position and were cited as the most frequent users of property search services in some areas across the UK such as London, the West Midlands and Hertfordshire.
Ronnie Walton commented on the market in Cheshire and surrounding areas: "Properties at the top end of the market in Cheshire are commanding ever rising prices, and a skillfully constructed bid is essential if a buyer is to achieve a successful purchase.
"Our role is increasingly more than just finding the property; it is also successfully masterminding the offer and tracking the sale right up to exchange and completion.
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