Auction buyers drop sharply despite more vendors trying their luck

Fewer buyers are purchasing at auctions despite more sellers resorting to them.

Quick buying firm House Buyer Bureau analysed auction stock that has sold subject to contract.  

The research shows that 2.3 per cent of all homes on the market across Britain are heading to auction - a 0.6 per cent increase on this time last year.

The North East ranks as the nation’s auction hotspot, where 5.6 per cent of all homes listed for sale are selling via auctions.

However, there has been a reduction in buyer appetite.

Currently, 29.7 per cent of all homes heading to auction have been sold subject to contract, a 5.7 per cent reduction when compared to this time last year when over 35 per cent were selling. 

Scotland has seen the largest reduction in buyer appetites for auction property purchases, down 13.1 per cent annually.

Just one region has seen auction buyer demand levels increase over the last year and that’s the South East, with a 6.7 per cent uplift. 

Managing Director of House Buyer Bureau, Chris Hodgkinson, comments: “We’re seeing far fewer interested parties than previously. This naturally means fewer bidders.

“The profile of the auction buyer has also changed with a reduction in the number of less experienced, mortgage backed bidders.

“What these figures don’t highlight is the higher level of homes that fail to even make the auction room due to a lack of interest.”