More than £4bn of residential and commercial property has been sold at in-room auctions across the UK in the past 12 months. Perhaps surprisingly given the political and economic backdrop, this is down by only 11% on the same period last year.
As the latest figures from Essential Information Group (EIG) show, this is a challenging market for everyone. October’s total was down by more than 20% year-on-year to £441m.
A glance through the regional results shows that all but 1 of the 13 regions has seen a fall in auction sales in the last 3 months, when compared to the same period last year. Whilst most auctioneers are still maintaining sale rates between 70-75%, there is no denying that the entire property market is feeling the squeeze, as reading press reports it would suggest that the private treaty market is in the same place. However EIG Managing Director, David Sandeman, said “anecdotal reports coming out of estate agents suggest that auction sales have not dropped nearly as much as private treaty sales”.
