August Property Auction Market Update

A Strong Market, But Cautious?

Now that some of the uncertainty surrounding the general election, and the direction of the next government, is out of the way what happened at the residential property auctions in July 2024? In this monthly update we will take a closer look at current trends in sales volumes, percentages sold, amounts raised and other interesting developments in the market.

Number of lots offered

Business seemed brisk again this month. The number of lots offered was strong again, with around 3,150 properties being offered for sale at the auctions we track in July. Although this was 10% below June’s total it was well ahead of both the average over the last year and a full one third more than in July 2023.

After a notable shift to online last month the split between online and live sales was more evenly balanced this month, but with very slightly more properties offered at live events.

Who held sales? Which were biggest?

As early July in particular is traditionally the last busy period before the summer holidays it will come as no surprise that the vast majority of auction houses held a sale this month. Also, major auction house Savills continued what seems to be becoming their customary practice this year (perhaps due to the demand from sellers?) of having multiple sales events close together. They had online events on 2 July and again over 23-24 July.

Percentages sold

The percentage of lots sold at auction has been surging ahead of late, reaching a peak over the last few months when three in four of all properties offered at the auctions we follow sold. However, the sales rate declined in July with just 68% of lots finding a buyer. This was the lowest sales rate since last October. Further, only a quarter of the sales held sold 80%+ of their lots. While these results show there is still a good chance of a property selling at auction these figures represent a noticeable drop off. Are buyers being more cautious?

Amount raised

Around £415m was raised at the auctions we track in July. This was in line with the strong receipts we have seen since the beginning of the year. It was only a small rise over last month (+£8m) but was the second highest total for 2024 so far and around 12% up on the monthly average over the last year.

In something of a reverse from last month the live and live streamed sales accounted for around two thirds of the total amount raised.

Average amount per sale

The average price of a residential property sold at auction in the UK in July was approximately £128,600. This was the lowest average price for auction properties since the beginning of 2024. In particular the average price of a property sold at online auctions dropped below £100,000 again (at £98,158) for the first time in six months. (One possible explanation could be that while wider property prices have been rising only very slightly nationally they have softened across many parts of London and the south east and south west.)

Summary

For political reasons, the first half of 2024 was an uncertain time for the UK property market. However, that being the case, it didn’t seem to affect business at the auctions over the spring and early summer period, which remained buoyant whichever way you look at it.

That optimism seemed to continue post-general election with strong results both for lot numbers and the amount raised. There was one slight note of caution however: Sales rates dropped off notably as did the average property sales price. It will be interesting to see if this is the start of a new direction in residential auctions (perhaps due to buyers being a little more cautious about buying or about the amount they spend) or is just a blip.

Looking ahead August is traditionally a slow period for residential auctions anyway. Many auction houses do not schedule a sale, before things get moving again in September. September onwards is when we are likely to see more property-related announcements and policies from the new government too. So it will be interesting to see if these impact activity at the property auctions this autumn.

Lastly, there is the question of the interest rate reduction by the Bank of England at the beginning of this month. While this was only small (0.25%) will it be enough to make buyers feel a corner has been turned …. or not?

Check out our monthly updated statistics below, courtesy of the Essential Information Group (click on the key colours to highlight / dehighlight):