iamsold has beaten its sales performance on this time last year, and says it has seen a dramatic surge in sales and online viewings since the beginning of June.
Compared to June 2019, sales are up by 20 per cent and viewings are up by 22 per cent.
For many, the sudden need to move comes as a result of lifestyle changes due to Covid-19, as people look to relocate for work, sell second homes, or search for a home more fit for purpose with office space, a garden and parks nearby being top of many wish lists.
Another positive trend reported by the company shows that homes are continuing to sell faster at auction this year compared to 2019, by almost 50 per cent on average when comparing days from pre-auction marketing to sale Jan-Apr 2019 vs 2020.
This also applied throughout lockdown, while the online auctions market was able to safely trade and continue to sell properties.
This encouraging data has emerged while a proportion of the industry remain on furlough leave, signalling that more businesses may be able to welcome staff back over the coming weeks if momentum continues at this pace.
Jamie Cooke, managing director of iamsold, said:
“It’s really encouraging to see this spike in activity.
“Our estate agent partners are reporting activity levels between 50 to 100 per cent of pre-Covid-19 levels, and they are feeding back that market appraisals are on the rise so further growth is set to come.
“A significant trend is that those requesting market appraisals are what we would classify as non-discretionary sellers in the main, who need to sell and are not just testing the market.
“This could be people needing to downsize, relocate to be near family or indeed separations leading to the sale of the family home.
“Our feeling is that non-discretionary sales will be a significant proportion of opportunity seen in the coming months, and as a result, we are gearing up for a busy summer as we support our agents by delivering a fast and secure way for their clients to buy and sell property through bespoke online auctions.
“Many industry commentators believe that Covid-19 will create further delays and uncertainty in the private treaty transactional process.
“Whilst we have been impacted, our average completion time is currently 52 days which is still around half the time of a private treaty sale.
Comments (10)
MMA can be good, but it has to be for the right property in my view.
I sold one last year at 13% above clients expectations and he had no fee to pay. He used his own conveyancer too.
The right property, choosing the right method of auction to sell it with fair fees and lock in/lock out reservations agreements for private treaty sales and we’re there!
I really hope Estate Agents snd homeowners seize the opportunity to adopt auction as a mainstream method of marketing and selling property . It is much more transparent , it’s quicker and it’s much more certain for all stakeholders. Love what Iamsold do and would suggest all agents take a look at their offering.
Apart from the minimum six grand fee to the purchaser.
Sounds as though you are a publicity agent for I Am Sold, Iain! Public auction is transparent, quick and certain. Modern Method is quick and certain when used properly but not as transparent as Public. Unfortunately many practitioners use the Modern Method as a quick way to gain extra income from the massive reservation fees that buyers have to pay to secure the property and many sellers are becoming increasingly aware that not paying commission (or a very low fee) is not making up for the lower price achieved for their property by having fewer bidders. There is most definitely a place for Conditional Auctions (which is what they should be called) when they are used correctly and ethically. I have acted on 2 cases already this year where we have pulled the selling agents to bits (agents who are not auctioneers and only in it for the additional income stream) for not following proper practice and misleading buyers.
Not an agent for them Richard just like What they offer . I think it would be a Shame if the industry does not grasp the opportunity to change the way property is marketed , sold and transacted .
17 weeks and 1 in 4 fall through rate is just not sustainable and so very avoidable .
I Am an agent for positive change that’s all
Auction
lock in agreements
agent collaboration on chain data
search before listing
Thanks Iain. Please excuse my sarcasm. All auctions have the advantage of security and certainty which is the main reason people increasingly like them. I have been involved with the modern method at compliance level and am an auctioneer myself. In a nutshell, I Am Sold run a pretty tight ship now, but there are a lot – and I mean a lot – of ordinary estate agents out there acting as sub agents not knowing exactly what they are doing who are either pressurising buyers and sellers in one way or another, or more commonly misleading them through inaccurate marketing. Yes, we should embrace this method (in a French way and whilst socially distancing!), but I really don’t know about love!
Well said, You can’t really blame the non-auctioneer firms being bedazzled by the lure of easy, high fees. Are you going to sell that run down terrace for less than a grand by the normal route or stick it with a MMA firm like IAmSold?
i think Auction should and can be a way of gettig the best outcome for everyone
buyer
seller
agent
HMRC
this is exactly why we need auctions in the mainstream and not the shadows. in Australia in most states its the norm , its highly professional and a strategy to deliver the best price without all the hidden crap chains provide
auctions and reservation lock ins really seem to me to be a way to improve the UK market and the behaviours of agents and clients alike