Unbelievably, the "activity'' tap has been turned back on and our vendors are benefiting from purchasers in turbo-charge mode - for now, at least.

I have had some amusing encounters involving this drive to buy. I had to hold one meeting with a client halfway through her highlights at Hari's, hairdresser to the stars, on the Brompton Road. The asking price on her Chelsea house was £4.5million, and we had three bids at £5million.

One buyer from Goldman Sachs, another a textile millionaire, and a third a Canadian lady lawyer. All grade one purchasers. We had to make a decision in two hours, so I rushed round to the salon for a critical powwow. My client was resplendent in silver foil all over her head. The lawyer won the day.

Another client's house in Chelsea was being fought over by a famous surgeon bidding against a Russian model and her Turkish banker boyfriend. The latter gazumped the former by £250,000 and immediately sent their solicitor by train to Newbury to do an attended exchange.

The surgeon moved even faster, matched the bid and bought over the telephone. The poor solicitor acting for the Turkish/Russian duo returned smartly to London without so much as a cappuccino. My playboy client was oblivious to this highly stressful few hours: he was sur les slopes in Verbier, uncontactable except in glühwein breaks between runs.

Then we were involved in the sale of a house in SW10 that was firmly under offer at £12million when another purchaser appeared like a comet from outer space and paid £12.75million on the day of exchange. Full Information

London Property