Property auction sales drop in April

The figures, from the Essential Information Group (EIG) found that in April, the total raised by auction property sales was £215m, this was down by 11.3% on the £242m raised in April last year.

EIG said the decline in activity reflected what has been seen in the wider estate agency and lettings market, and with the current uncertainty surrounding the general election and Brexit the consultancy suggested this may continue in the immediate future.

Nationally, the total number of lots offered in April was 2,227 and the total number of lots sold was 1,647. The percentage of lots sold was up slightly (1.1%) on April last year.

The commercial market held up better than the residential market. In the residential market the 1,901 lots offered were down by 10.7% on April last year, while the 1,417 lots sold were down by 9.8%. In the commercial sector the 326 lots offered were down by 2.1% while the 230 lots sold were only down by 0.4%.

The EIG report stated: “The residential auction market saw falls of around 10% in lots offered and lots sold, with similar double-digit falls also evident in the rolling quarterly figures. The commercial auction market was relatively unchanged last month, with seven fewer lots offered compared to April 2016 (333 lots to 326 lots) and just one less sale.”

At a regional level, Scotland and Wales bucked the national trend. They were the only two regions to record an increase in both the number of lots offered and lots sold for both residential and commercial properties in the three months to the end of April 2017.

In the same three-month period, London saw an increase in the number of commercial lots offered (15.9%) and lots sold (3.4%), but in the residential market the lots offered were down by 12.7%, while the lots sold dropped by 20.2%.