Welcome to the April newsletter that looks back at auction activity in March and preceding periods.
Overall lots offered was down 6.5% last month, from 2,962 lots to 2,769 lots, whilst lots sold fell by 5.7%, from 2,188 lots to 2,064 lots. The total raised at auction fell by £32M to £402M, down 7.3% from £434M raised in March 2016.
As highlighted last month, the recent falls could be largely attributed to the unprecedented spikes we saw in February and to a lesser extent in March last year, when an influx of buyers and sellers rushed to beat the impending stamp duty hikes.
We may also be witnessing a market which is just easing back the throttle a little. It wouldn't be unsurprsing either, considering that the Government has recently introduced measures to try and cool the buy-to-let market whilst house price inflation has also seemingly slowed. Encouraging though, despite the drop-off in numbers we are still seeing an average sale rate of around 75% which shows sale rooms remain competitive with buyers aplenty.
Overall Statistics March 2017
Auctions Held in the UK 127
Total Lots Offered 2,769
Total Lots Sold 2,064
Percent Sold 74.5%
Total Realised £402,196,601
National Auction Analysis
The residential sector saw instructions fall by 9.3% last month, down 229 lots to 2,228, whilst sales dropped by almost 8% to 1,646 lots. Figures for Q1 show double-digit falls in lots offered, sold and amount raised, but as mentioned above it should not be cause for alarm as it is almost entirely due to the record-breaking activity seen in Q1 2016 prior to the stamp duty changes.
Commercial lots offered increased by 7% in March, to 541 lots (up from 505 in March 2016), whilst sales grew by almost 5% to 418 lots sold. However, the amount realised from commercial property sales decreased by 14% (down £23M), indicating a rise in smaller lot sizes.
A word from the editor: I welcome any feedback or questions you may have about our newsletters or the wider market in general.
Kind regards,
David Sandeman
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