INDUSTRY FIRST: Iamproperty auctions now sell 1% of all homes – claim

Estate agents sold a record-breaking number of properties via online auction in 2023, with each quarter outperforming all previous years, latest data from Iamproperty reveals.

The platform’s Online Auction Index reveals auction sales accounted for 1% of all UK residential property transactions for the first time – selling 9,487 properties. The figure was up by 35% year-on-year and helped its Partner Agents grow auction revenue by 32% to £33 million.

RECORD FIGURE

Capital Value raised for vendors also reached a record figure of £1.6 billion.

Overall Partner Agents sold 2,351 properties in Q4 – an increase of 26% vs Q4 2022 – with  capital value exceeding £400 million – 27% higher than Q4 2022.

This was supported by a sales peak in October, in line with the first significant reduction in mortgage rates. October was also IamProperty’s highest selling month on record, with 923 property sales driving £158 million in capital value.

The North saw the highest levels of growth in auction activity between October and December with a 35% increase in auction sales compared to the same period in 2022, closely followed by the South which saw a 27% increase.

Standout areas which saw the highest levels of growth across the quarter were Wales (+176%), the North West (+126%) and the South East (+91%).

TURBULENT YEAR

Jamie Cooke (main picture), Co-Founder of Iamproperty, says: “There’s no doubt that 2023 was a fairly turbulent year for the property market, with consecutive interest rate rises causing some peaks and troughs to transactional volumes.

“However, we saw auction hold strong throughout and it’s been fantastic to see our Partner Agents’ auction success go from strength to strength, helping them to secure listings and strengthen their pipelines whilst Private Treaty activity slowed and timescales increased.

“Whilst there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the market there’s early signs that things are beginning to move in the right direction, and we’re already seeing that last year’s demand for auction is showing no sign of slowing down.”