After months of growing unease about a declining housing market, the vultures believe that they can scent a profit.

Stalled sales and falling prices have played into the hands of specialist firms that sniff out opportunities presented by a troubled market.

Quick Move, a housing broker, buys properties from homeowners and builders seeking a quick sale. The company tends to buy properties at about 85 per cent of their value and at present is picking up many houses that owners are finding difficult to sell.

Hywel Luke, Quick Move's managing director, said: “We're seeing a lot more people that need our services and we're doing well on the resale side.”

He added that although most of the houses that the company bought had been acquired from builders or people in a rush to move because of a change of job, there was also a rise in homeowners forced to sell because of financial difficulties.

Auction houses are also benefiting from an increase in repossessions. David Sandeman, founder of Essential Information Group, an auction information firm, said that the number of repossessed properties in auctions had risen dramatically.

“Repossessions are always a good flag to hang an auction on,” he said. “More and more people are chasing after them and there's an ever increasing number of private buyers at auction.”

Mr Sandeman said that the number of repossessions at auction had risen 2 times over the past three years.

Andrews & Robertson, one of Britain's largest independent auctioneers, held one of its biggest auctions last week, selling £34 million of houses, of which about £4 million came from repossessed properties.

Ben Dowman, who deals with the business's corporate clients, said: “Repossessions now represent about 25 per cent of our catalogue, compared with 10 per cent a year ago. It's useful for our catalogue. There are always people interested in repossessions.”

Although the market may be in the doldrums, buyers were starting to think they could pick up bargains, he said.