Industry News

EIG Newsletter March 2018 - Essential Auction News

Publish Date: 20 March 2018

By Beth Fox

Welcome to the March Newsletter

Essential Auction News

Welcome to the March newsletter that looks back at auction activity in February and preceding periods. I am pleased to report on a strong set of auction results last month, with overall lots offered up almost 6% to 4,067 lots and a 3% increase in sales to 3,087 lots.

Ignoring the anomaly of February 2016 when we saw an unprecedented spike in transactions due to the impending stamp duty changes, the 3,436 residential lots offered is the highest volume ever recorded in February; easily surpassing the previous record of 3.330 residential lots offered in February 2017. More on this below.

Overall Statistics February 2018

Auctions Held in the UK 119
Total Lots Offered 4,068
Total Lots Sold 3,096
Percent Sold 76.1%
Total Realised £565,106,404

National Auction Analysis

As mentioned above, the residential sector has certainly gone from strength to strength recently. Apart from a very slight fall in the monthly sale rate; down half a percent to 76.2%, there were gains made in every other measurable parameter. Notably, residential lots offered increased by 8% in February, to 3,437 lots, and by 5% in the rolling quarter - up from 6,627 lots to 6,982 lots. A similar pattern is evident in the residential sale volumes - up 7% in February, 5% in the last 3 months and by almost 3% in the past year.

In the commercial sector, whilst all 12 metrics are down on their corresponding periods last year it should be noted that historically the London commercial auctioneers account for approximately 45% of all commercial lots sold and 75% of all commercial amount raised. Our records show that their results in February were down only 9% in lots sold and by just 4% in amount raised, indicating that the figures below are reflective of the drop in commercial stock being offered by residential auctioneers.

A word from the editor:

As ever I would welcome any comments or feedback you may have regarding the newsletter or indeed the wider market in general.

Kind regards,

David Sandeman