October Property Auction Market Update

Auction Sales Market Booming

With the slow summer period well behind us, what happened at the residential property auctions in September 2024? In this monthly update we will take a closer look at current trends in sales volumes, percentages sold, amounts raised and other interesting trends in the market.

Number of lots offered

While September is usually busy anyway this year the market absolutely boomed. In simple terms September 2024 was a very, very busy month for the residential auctions. Just over 5,000 lots were offered at the auctions we track.

Perhaps the most notable statistic is that not only were the September lot numbers well up on the monthly average for 2024 they were around 25% up on September last year.

The vast majority of residential auction houses held a sale. Around 60% of the lots offered were offered at online sales. Allsop and Savills held the largest sales by lot volume. Perhaps something of an indicator of the keen interest in selling this month was that Savills held sales spanning across four days.

Freehold Part Reversionary Ground Rent in Streatham, London Sold Through Allsop Residential Auctions (October 2024)

Percentages sold

The percentage of lots offered at auctions which actually sold has dipped over the last couple of months. This wasn’t the case this month. The average sales rate nudged back up to just over 71%. This was still less than most months in 2024 but suggests that there is no trend towards a fall off in buyer interest as might have been expected given the summer results.

Notably, around three in every four properties offered at live/live streamed sales found a buyer. Some of these sales enjoyed success rates of 90%+ and a couple actually sold every lot offered.

Amount raised

In line with the high lot volumes and large number of sales the amount raised hit the highest levels in September, with around £872m of property sold. This was over double the monthly average over the last year and over 40% more than the same month last year. This is quite possibly a record haul.

Average amount per sale

The average price of a house sold at auction in the UK in September 2024 was also a record amount for 2024 to date. At around £166,000 it was the highest average sales price since December 2023. This compares to the average UK property price of £290,000 (UK HPI figures).

Summary

While September is usually a busy month for the residential auctions this September was especially busy. Many will wonder why?

From a buyer’s point of view, recent mortgage rate reductions have likely helped to stimulate interest in the market.

In relation to sellers, it seems like sellers embarked on something of a sell off this month. Again, why could this be? One reason might be the impending Budget at the end of October. The threat of higher taxes, particularly Capital Gains Tax, may be encouraging some buy to let investors, second and holiday home owners to sell. A number of estate agents seem to be indicating that this is a trend at the moment.

In any case, the impending Budget didn’t seem to deter buyers. The strong sales rates – even with much more property available to buy than normal – indicates that buyers are still keen to buy. And that they look to the auctions to find property to buy at market prices.

It will be interesting to see if the market remains super busy next month, or if it returns to more normal seasonal levels.

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

Live / Live Streamed Property Auctions Data

Online Property Auctions Data