HOMEOWNERS in Chelmsford are getting well above the asking price when selling their homes, it has been revealed.

The city finished fourth in a poll, commissioned by online estate agency Purplebricks, with research showing 21 per cent of homes are being sold above their estimated value.

The only places above Chelmsford in the survey were - Birmingham who topped it with 37 per cent, Brighton with 27 per cent and London with 26 per cent.

Bosses from Purplebricks believe the results show the housing market is very strong in Chelmsford, but also suggests demand may not meet supply.

Chief executive Michael Bruce said: “The housing market is strengthening, but there is still a shortage of properties for sale and this is having an impact on eventual prices paid.

“We are seeing more gazumping because people feel under pressure to pay over the odds to secure a home there is such a huge demand for.”

The results did not surprise recent property buyers and sellers from Chelmsford.

Brett Sanders, who recently moved from Melbourne to Heybridge, said he felt properties in the city were overpriced.

Mr Sanders, pub manager of Golden Fleece in Duke Street, Chelmsford, said: “We sold our house fairly quickly, but the homes we went to look at were overpriced by a good £50,000 in some cases, but people were still willing to pay the price.

“In our house hunt, we got gazumped a couple of times by about £15,000 on homes in Chelmsford just because someone else wanted it so badly they were willing to offer the extra money.

“It seems like some postcodes are favourable and hot at the moment and one of those postcodes seems to be Chelmsford’s.”

Estate agents based in the city also said they were “unsurprised” by the results.

Mike Low, director of Balgores Low in Tindal Square, said: “It is absolutely mental at the moment and I’ve never seen it like this in 20 years.

“The supply doesn’t match the demand and now there is more confidence in buyers after a few bad years and we are getting more first time buyers showing up.

“It is like someone has pulled the cork out of a bottle.”