"There are still people out there both wanting and needing to move, and the agents who are able to offer auction as a method of sale to their vendors are feeling the benefit."
- Jamie Cooke - iamproperty
Each quarter of online auction sales this year has outsold the last, and while winning new Private Treaty instructions remains a challenge, agents’ auction sales are growing at pace.
Data from iamproperty’s Q3 Online Auction Index shows there were 2,530 properties sold online via the Modern Method of Auction (MMoA) in Q3, an increase of 31% compared to Q3 2022, and up 7% versus last quarter.
Capital Value raised also reached a record figure of over £431m in Q3, an increase of 5% on the previous quarter and an increase of 27% compared to the same period last year. Sales in August alone topped £155m, which is the most Capital Value iamproperty has ever seen raised in a single month.
Insights from Rightmove mirror these trends, with consistent quarter-on-quarter growth. In Q3, the portal listed 29,278 properties for sale via auction, which was an increase of 33% compared with the same period last year. When looking at the year to date, sales agreed increased by 28% YoY, to over 15,000, with more than 135 million listing views on auction properties.
In a challenging market still feeling the impact of consecutive interest rate rises, auction has provided agents with a quick and secure solution for serious buyers and sellers who are still wanting and needing to move. Q3 saw agents’ fees from auction sales increase by 30%, rising from £6.7m in Q3 2022 to £8.7m this quarter. Another record figure.
The Index also reveals that the South is still seeing the highest levels of growth in auction activity. In Q3, sales in the South rose by 42%, closely followed by the North which saw a 37% increase – both compared to Q3 2022.
The highest-selling property during the quarter was in Chiswick and sold for £2.38m - £381,500 over its Reserve Price.
Jamie Cooke, Co-Founder of iamproperty, said: “Whilst we’re beginning to see some signs of settling in the wider market it’s still a challenging landscape for Estate Agents, with a lower than average number of discretionary sellers and mortgage rates remaining at the higher end.
"However, there are still people out there both wanting and needing to move, and the agents who are able to offer auction as a method of sale to their vendors are feeling the benefit, as people are prioritising speed, security and transparency more than ever before which auction was made to deliver on.
“The summer saw a phenomenal few months for auction. Q3 was our highest selling quarter ever and I’m really pleased to see the results it’s achieving both for our Partner Agents and buyers and sellers. I’ve no doubt that demand for auction will hold strong as we go into Q4.”
