The property auction market in the UK finished 2016 strongly and set new records in the process, fresh figures provided by the Essential Information Group (EIG) show.
Overall the volume of lots offered in December was up over 12%, from 3,336 lots to 3,745 lots, whilst lots sold increased by 9%, from 2,591 to 2,830. This is the largest ever number of lots offered and sold during the month of December, beating the previous highs of 3,529 lots offered in December 2007 and 2,675 lots sold in December 2013.
Overall Statistics December 2016 | |
Auctions Held in the UK | 110 |
Total Lots Offered | 3,745 |
Total Lots Sold | 2,830 |
Percent Sold | 75.6% |
Total Realised | £536,773,550 |
Given the record number of auctions last month, it is perhaps unsurprising to see that there was a significant increase in the amount raised – up 5% to £537m, the largest amount realised in December since 2016.
“Having reported on a challenging few months towards the latter part of last year, it’s pleasing to see an extremely positive end to proceedings and set new records in the process,” said David Sandeman at EIG.
National auction analysis
Residential lots offered increased by almost 12% in December, equating to 317 more lots being offered when compared with December 2015. The large gain in the number of residential instructions helped propel Q4 into a 1.4% gain in this regard, from 7,246 in Q4 15 to 7,351 in Q4 16, whilst annually the market saw growth of 4.2% equating to 1,136 more lots being offered compared with 2015.
The commercial sector saw a 15% rise in lots offered during December, up from 623 lots to 715 lots, whilst lots sold increased by almost 12% from 508 to 567 lots. The rolling quarter and annual figures for lots offered and lots sold saw single digit declines, but the sale rate remained constant and the all-important amount raised went up by 21%, 5% and 9% for the month, quarter and year respectively indicating a buoyant market and increased lot sizes.
Overall
December 2016 | October 2016 to December 2016 | January 2016 to December 2016 | ||||
Lots Offered | 3,745 (3,336) | â–² 12.3% | 9,115 (9,028) | â–² 1.0% | 33,855 (33,241) | â–² 1.8% |
Lots Sold | 2,830 (2,591) | â–² 9.2% | 6,874 (6,972) | â–¼ 1.4% | 25,799 (25,921) | â–¼ 0.5% |
Percent Sold | 75.6% (77.7%) | â–¼ 2.7% | 75.4% (77.2%) | â–¼ 2.3% | 76.2% (78.0%) | â–¼ 2.3% |
Total Raised | £537M (£511M) | â–² 5.0% | £1,314M (£1,358M) | â–¼ 3.2% | £4,685M (£4,491M) | â–² 4.3% |
Residential
December 2016 | October 2016 to December 2016 | January 2016 to December 2016 | ||||
Lots Offered | 3,030 (2,713) | â–² 11.7% | 7,351 (7,246) | â–² 1.4% | 28,002 (26,866) | â–² 4.2% |
Lots Sold | 2,263 (2,083) | â–² 8.6% | 5,471 (5,554) | â–¼ 1.5% | 21,173 (20,845) | â–² 1.6% |
Percent Sold | 74.7% (76.8%) | â–¼ 2.7% | 74.4% (76.6%) | â–¼ 2.9% | 75.6% (77.6%) | â–¼ 2.6% |
Total Raised | £320M (£331M) | â–¼ 3.4% | £826M (£893M) | â–¼ 7.5% | £3,236M (£3,163M) | â–² 2.3% |
Commercial
December 2016 | October 2016 to December 2016 | January 2016 to December 2016 | ||||
Lots Offered | 715 (623) | â–² 14.8% | 1,764 (1,782) | â–¼ 1.0% | 5,853 (6,375) | â–¼ 8.2% |
Lots Sold | 567 (508) | â–² 11.6% | 1,403 (1,418) | â–¼ 1.1% | 4,626 (5,076) | â–¼ 8.9% |
Percent Sold | 79.3% (81.5%) | â–¼ 2.7% | 79.5% (79.6%) | â–¼ 0.1% | 79.0% (79.6%) | â–¼ 0.8% |
Total Raised | £217M (£180M) | â–² 20.6% | £488M (£464M) | â–² 5.1% | £1,449M (£1,329M) | â–² 9.1% |
Revealed! How the housing market has changed since stamp duty…