A report this week issued by the UK's Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors shows unscrupulous buyers profiteering from the current property slump.
Estate agents confirm the report's finding that cash-rich buyers are increasingly using cruel tactics to force vendors to drop already discounted asking prices.
These predators push for a further reduction of as much as one third - even on prices previously reduced by sellers to try to encourage sale - and sometimes do so up to the very last moment before exchanging contracts!
Background
House sales are at their lowest since records began 30 years ago.
Estate agents currently face worrying lulls in business and are experiencing considerably reduced numbers of transactions compared with this time last year.
Available mortgage products are also now stripped down to about 20% of what was available less than 12 months ago.
Industry figures too show a downward spiral in house value averaging a £17,000 reduction per property in the last six months alone.
Set against this background, it isn't surprising that the report indicates the small army of predatory buyers is growing.
