"As ever, auction’s core benefits of speed, security and transparency are ringing true for an increasing number of vendors, and we’re pleased to see our Partner Agents reap the rewards"
- Jamie Cooke - iamproperty
Auction is gearing up for even more growth as we head into an anticipated strong spring market, following a record-breaking quarter of sales, with Capital Value raised for vendors surpassing £450m for the first time.
The data comes from iamproperty, which is reporting the most active auction market seen to date, within its Q1 Online Auction Index.
Between January and March, iamproperty supported Estate Agents in selling 2,588 properties via auction, an increase of 14% compared to the same period last year.
Heightened activity across the quarter saw iamproperty’s Partner Agent network benefit from over £9.5m in auction fees, which was an increase of 23% vs Q1 2023.
Jamie Cooke, Co-Founder of iamproperty, commented: “Continued rising demand, coupled with improved conditions due to mortgage rates settling have allowed more vendors to re-enter the market, supporting a positive start to the year’s auction sales.
"These shifts have put agents in a good position to hit the ground running as we head into what we’re all hoping is a traditional strong spring market.
“I’m delighted to see the momentum continue off the back of a record-breaking year when our auction sales grew to make up 1% of all property transactions in the UK for the first time.
"As ever, auction’s core benefits of speed, security and transparency are ringing true for an increasing number of vendors, and we’re pleased to see our Partner Agents reap the rewards.
"As well as benefiting from faster pipeline conversions and a boost to their cashflow which our 7-day payments deliver*they’re also benefitting from using auction as a listing tool to win more instructions, by offering vendors an alternative method of sale to suit their needs.
“Auction is a model that already works and is serving a large proportion of the market, helping consumers to achieve a faster, more secure sale. There’s huge potential to see more auction success this year, with encouraging signs that the market is moving in the right direction to support further growth as we enter the peak selling period.
Jamie’s predictions for the auction market in Q2:
A strong spring market
“We’ve seen a positive start to the year and I’m going into Q2 with real optimism, as I know many others are, anticipating that we’ll see a strong spring market. Our Partner Agents’ level of auction stock is in a really good place, standing them in good stead to hit the ground running with their sales and income.”
General election uncertainty
“One of my predictions last quarter was the potential for a general election in the UK around the midpoint of this year, and the hesitation it could create in the market. I’m pleased to see that even though we still don’t have clarity, transactions have been active so far this year. While we await a possible announcement, I think there’s a good window of opportunity over the next few months for agents to take advantage of the current market conditions.”
Auction leveraging listings
“Throughout Q1, I’ve seen a maintained rise in our agent network using auction as a listing tool to win new business and I’d expect this to continue. The rising consumer demand shows that people want choice, and this is something that will only grow, and auction enables our Partner Agents to deliver on this.”
