Homes for auction: Hammer out a better deal - Telegraph

Homes for auction: Hammer out a better deal - Telegraph

In many parts of the country the property market is dead, with sales running at less than half the number at the peak of the boom in 2007. But there is one exception to the gloom: the auction market.

In Savills’ December 7 sale, 82 out of 123 lots sold on the day, three sold by private treaty prior to the auction and three sold immediately after. At Andrews & Robertson’s sale on December 13, 59 of 89 lots sold on the day, with two going before the auction. High street estate agents can only dream of such turnover.

There is a big difference, however, between the auction market and the mainstream market: price. In many cases, prices currently being achieved at auction are 20 per cent below the asking prices for similar homes being advertised in agents’ windows.