| More than £3.16 billion worth of residential property was sold under the hammer last year.
A sharp increase in residential property prices helped to boost auction revenues across the UK last year and that was in spite of a fall in the number of lots offered and sold, fresh market data shows. The latest residential auction market review, compiled by the Essential Information Group (EIG), reveals that auction revenues shot up in 2015, led by the South East, South West and Scotland, and it is perhaps no coincidence that house prices in all three regions rose last year.
“Last year more than £3.16 billion worth of residential property was sold under the hammer,” said David Sandeman, Managing Director at EIG. “It is widely expected that house prices will continue to rise [in 2016] albeit at a slower rate than has been seen in recent years.” EIG report that there remains healthy appetite among buyers for keenly priced homes at auction and this trend looks set to continue for the foreseeable future, supported by record low mortgage borrowing rates, attractive rental returns and increasing property prices. |
| Last week, Sutton Kersh hosted Liverpool’s largest property auction in a decade with more than 140 properties snapped up and sales figures topping £9 million.
Intense and competitive bidding among the 300 buyers helped to ensure that some properties sold for almost double the guide price, helping to push up achieved home prices in the process. Cathy Holt, director at Sutton Kersh, said: “It’s been a huge auction, a record breaker for Liverpool. Sales pre-auction have also been extremely strong with £2.7 million of property sold in the last few weeks. “The amount of instructions and sales points to a big upturn in the market, although some of this is also being driven by proposed changes to stamp duty on buy to let properties, with buyers looking to complete property deals before proposed changes come into force in April.” |