[roadrunner_0]

i know what you are saying, but you are coming at my point from teh wrong angle, you point stand, and go a long way to showing why central london house prices are so absurd. What i was saying was, the main way of selling houses in this country is controlled by people who are paid (generally, not always) a percentage of what they make for you, and therefore the temptation is there for them (estate agents) to encourage the upward trend, and, for the more unscroupulous agents to use tactics such as telling people that there is already an offer in at the asking price to make the properties involved go for artificially high prices (as an example, albeit a specific and afaik not a specifically huge probelm in and of itself). Yes, estate agents want to get the best prices for the people involved, however, the people involved in the transaction happen to be themselves.
(im trying desperately hard to stay away from the 'all estate agents are evil robbing bastards stereotype here, as i know that that isnt true, however, i think it would be fair to say that a lot are motivated by the pursuit of money, rather than altruism)