Lots submitted to residential auctions have more than doubled in numbers in recent months.

Fresh figures released by EIG Property Auctions show a 51.5 per cent increase from August 2022 to August 2023; the number of residential lots sold year on year has increased by 39.7 per cent with total raised increasing by 29.4 per cent.

This is happening as Zoopla reports a drop in private treaty sales of 21 per cent over the past year. 

So why have auctions bucked the trend?

Stuart Collar-Brown, founder and director of My Auction, says it’s down to sellers being too ambitious when it comes to private treaty transactions. 

He says: “We’ve seen a huge increase in enquiries from sellers, all keen to secure a sale on an existing property already on the market. There is a noticeable shift in the market with an increased urgency from sellers who want the security a sale by auction brings.

“With more rate rises expected and Christmas fast approaching, taking the auction route is becoming far more popular than we have seen in the last three to four years.

“The harsh reality of the current market is that if the market deems the price to be too high within the first seven to 10 days of marketing, sellers must accept the market conditions, re-adjust and go again.

“If there are buyers willing to pay on or close to the guide price on a property but offer the guarantee of an immediate exchange of contracts with a non-refundable 10% deposit, sellers should seriously be considering taking these offers.

“If they don’t take it now, in three months’ time, they could be 10% or more less, based on what we are seeing from buyers right now.”