Auction sector 'leading post-referendum sales recovery' - claim

A series of strong sales performances at recent auctions has led one firm to claim the sector is leading the residential industry’s recovery after last year’s EU Referendum.

Auction House says its sales figures for the first quarter of this year precisely match those achieved during the same period in 2016.

The group had sold a total of 701 properties - exactly equalling the total sold in the first quarter of last year, when the market was surging in advance of the additional three per cent stamp duty surcharge for landlords and second-home buyers.

“Auction is the first property sector to re-establish itself back to the sales levels we saw before the EU referendum last year. No longer are auctions a ‘last resort’ route to market. In fact, they are now becoming the ‘go-to’ place to sell properties for improvement or development, various types of land, anything that’s mixed-use, blocks or rows of garages, or any property which is tenanted” says founding director Roger Lake.

Meanwhile the Clive Emson auction service, which works with 850 estate agents across the UK, is cataloguing a larger-than-expected 137 lots for its May auction - hot on the heels of the record-breaking March auction which was the most successful in the firm’s 30-year history.

As well as £20m raised in the regional sales, a further £2m was exchanged on lots offered by Clive Emson’s national online service.

Finally, Andrews & Robinson has reported a strong £15.7m raised from the sale of 61 lots earlier this week, with an average lot size of £236,750.

The highest value lot, a freehold three floor semi-detached house in Battersea, south London, offered with full vacant possession on behalf of a housing association, sold for £1.6m.