Private sales treaties will simply be unable to deliver sales between now and the end of this year, anxious vendors are being told.
Auctions boss Roger Lake said: “We are detecting urgency in the market and more private instructions are entering our catalogues.
“Selling through estate agents is a lengthy, uncertain process.
“My message to sellers is if you want or need to sell and complete this calendar year, then you will have to choose auction because private treaty simply won’t be able to deliver.”
Lake is also advising vendors to put low guide prices on their properties.
Lake said his firm, Auction House, which works in partnership with a network of estate agents, sold 531 lots last month – a record in the firm’s 12-year history.
He said that at the end of Q3, Auction House total sales were 2,796 lots from 3,623 offered – up 8.2% year on year. The figures represent an average success rate of 77.2% and a cumulative sales value of over £320m (£321,296,573).
Lake added: “The distraction of Brexit doesn’t yet seem to have curtailed the Auction House performance. The 25 auctions that we held in September across England, Scotland and Wales were well attended, and competitive bidding achieved some strong individual sales prices.”
However, Lake is envisaging a shortage of stock that may impact on the auction market.
He said: “Whilst buyers remain eager, some sellers may decide to sit on their hands until the political situation in the country becomes clearer.
“Without doubt, we are in challenging times and can’t expect auctions to be completely exempt from the impact of Brexit.
“So price remains the key driver, and our mantra of ‘guide low to achieve high’ is particularly true in the current climate.”
Some capitulation creeping into the market now?
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Frustrated sellers are swapping agents, resucing their prices or withdrawing altogether.
Something seasonal about all of this too. Christmas comes early to the housing market when the economy is wobbly.
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“…price remains the key driver, and our mantra of ‘guide low to achieve high’ is particularly true…”
Erm… forgive the ‘chucking a lit firework into a room’ style of this post – but isn’t there a rule for auctioning that the “guide” price must be within ten percent of the ‘reserve’ figure?
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It has been ruled by trading standards that a buyer must have a reasonable expectation of being able to purchase the property at the bottom guide………..
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If that is the case…
…Oh, dear!
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If they are so busy with Auction business, where do they find the time to tell us how busy they are.
Auction? ……the method of last resort, in my humble (not really!) opinion.
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