Over the past few months buying agents have noticed an increase in the number of houses available privately. "People are shy to put their homes on the market but that doesn't mean to say they don't want to sell them," says Hugo Thistlethwayte of buying agents Prime Purchase. Sellers use the grey market as a means of testing the price of their house; if it hasn't sold after a handful of private viewings, they know to launch it on the open market at a lower figure.
Some might argue that these private sellers deserve to be exposed. "In boom times buyers must pay a premium to unlock the estate agent's bottom drawer," says Thistlethwayte. "But in recessions, it also contains overpriced, blighted homes that wouldn't stand a chance on the open market."
