Under the hammer! Auctioneer marks record start to the year for agent sales

Auction house iamproperty is marking a record start to the year with landmark sales and fees raised for partner agents.

The brand said its auction service iamsold has supported its partner agents to sell 1,978 properties, with more noting the method is helping them to win new instructions during the first four months of the year.

The busy period of sales raised more than £349m in capital value for vendors, iamsold said.

The number of properties sold has increased by 14% annually and money raised by 32% between January and April 2022.

This includes a record breaking month of sales in March, with £107.7m worth of property sold by partner agents through the modern method of auction.

The figure was up 35% compared with the same period of 2021.

Fees paid to partner agents have also gone up by 26% annually between January and April 2022.

Jamie Cooke, managing director at iamsold, said: "The market is extremely competitive right now and agents need to do everything they can to stand out to win new instructions.

“Our partner agents are telling us that being able to offer vendors a choice of their method of sale is helping them to hit their targets, as more vendors are interested in the benefits of auction. 

“The market remained fast paced in the first quarter of the year and vendors increasingly chose online auction to make their move faster and more secure.

“After a transformative year for auction in 2021, it’s great to see this buzz continue. We’re seeing no signs of the auction market slowing down – the total opposite in fact – as more people see it as a fast, secure and transparent way to sell and buy property.”

More than 4,000 agents are now on the iamproperty network including Countrywide, eXp UK and Arun Group brands.

Simon Wright, director of estate agent Robinsons, added: “Auction isn’t necessarily for everybody but there are certain benefits, for example the speed of sale is most definitely one of the advantages and the security of getting the sale through, quickly and efficiently.”