During December there were 114 property auctions across the country down from 134 from the previous year. Despite the overall number of lots sold dropping by 4% the amount of money raised from sales at auction rose by 4% in December 2015 vs 2014 to more than £511 million – the first time it has been above £500m since 2006. December's numbers are a fair reflection of how the market performed throughout 2015.
The overall auction figures for December 2015 are worth noting but what we are really interested in are the residential property auction figures for the last quarter and year on year.
The residential auction figures reflect an issue permeating throughout the property market, namely a lack of stock. During Q4 2015 7,246 lots were offered at auction versus 7,499 in Q4 2014 and throughout 2014 28,525 lots were offered down to 26,866 in 2015.
Although this may be bad news for buyers and investors looking to snaffle a bargain at auction sellers are actually having a great time as a result!. As there were fewer lots being offered in Q4 2015 vs 2014 EI Group found a far greater number of properties were sold (5,554 vs 5,538) this equates to 76.6% of properties offered at auction being sold versus 73.8%.
For more information on buying property auction read our checklist from EI Group:-
Buying at Auction
It appears then that those wishing to sell at auction are in a strong position with stock becoming more scarce without demand falling. This is a trend reflected across the various UK regions:-
For more information on buying property auction read our checklist from EI Group:-
Buying at Auction
Residential Auction Figures – UK
|
|
Last Quarter |
Last Year |
||||
|
|
Oct - Dec 15 |
Oct - Dec 14 |
Increase |
Jan – Dec 15 |
Jan – Dec 14 |
Increase |
|
Lots Offered |
7246 |
7499 |
-3.40% |
26866 |
28525 |
-5.80% |
|
Lots Sold |
5554 |
5538 |
0.30% |
20845 |
21834 |
-4.50% |
|
Percent Sold |
76.60% |
73.80% |
3.80% |
77.60% |
76.50% |
1.40% |
|
Total Raised |
£893,417,820.00 |
£813,246,537.0 |
9.90% |
£3,162,530,538 |
£3,058,368,935.00 |
3.4% |
Regional Analysis*
*Regions are ranked highest to lowest on % sold basis
|
Region: |
Oct – Dec 15 (% Sold) |
Oct – Dec 14 (% Sold) |
Increase in % sold YoY |
|
N-W Home Counties |
83.00% |
76.30% |
8.80% |
|
East Anglia |
82.30% |
78.20% |
5.20% |
|
S-E Home Counties |
81.50% |
79.90% |
2.00% |
|
West Midlands |
80.90% |
76.70% |
5.50% |
|
Yorkshire & Humber |
78.40% |
73.00% |
7.40% |
|
London |
77.50% |
78.10% |
-0.80% |
|
Wales |
77.40% |
76.30% |
1.40% |
|
East Midlands |
77.00% |
72.70% |
5.90% |
|
South West |
76.20% |
71.20% |
7.00% |
|
North East |
73.60% |
71.50% |
2.90% |
|
North West |
72.60% |
72.20% |
0.60% |
|
Northern Ireland |
67.60% |
71.40% |
-5.30% |
|
Scotland |
60.60% |
50.00% |
21.20% |
