Auction House sees sale values rocket
by over 60%
Recent months have seen huge growth
at Auction House– operating as Loveitts in Coventry and Warwickshire - with a
marked increase in the value of sales made, and some of the group’s regional
auctions entering their highest ever number of lots.
During November this year, Auction
House offered 229 lots and sold 161 – at a steady success rate of 70.3%, with
£18.8m raised. This compares with a sale value of £11.5m in November 2019 – a
hike of 62% year on year.
Commenting on the figures, Sally
Smith, Auctioneer and Director said: “There’s no doubt that buoyancy has
returned to the auction sector. A new urgency is now evident, as more private
buyers seek to purchase with the benefits of the current stamp duty holiday.
“Bidding has been enthusiastic with
strong prices being achieved on a wide variety of popular lots. The second
lockdown certainly hasn’t held us back – in fact, we can safely say that it has
been business as usual at Auction House. And we’re seeing that strong activity
continuing into December.”
Sally Smith says that both sellers and
buyers appreciate the speed of the auction process, attracted by the certainty
of the sale and the fixed timeline it promises.
She explains: “We can deliver an
exchange of contracts within three to six weeks, compared to the norm of three
to six months with private treaty.
“Our Covid-secure procedures are
working well in Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas, and our remote bidding systems are
proving very effective and increasingly popular.
“Right now, there’s a rush to get
property sold before the Christmas / New Year holiday. We have over 600 lots
entered into our December auctions, which is on a par with last year’s
figures.”
Since the start of 2020, the group
has sold a massive 2,877 lots from 3,656 offered – more than any other property
auctioneer in the UK – with a success rate of 78.7% and raising an impressive
total of nearly £386m (£385,934,000).
Sally Smith added: “In the final
quarter of the year, some of our regions have offered the highest number of
lots in their history. That means some of our biggest ever auctions have taken
place in the year of Covid – which is an astonishing achievement!
“This also bodes well for the coming
year. Those with surplus stock and others needing to sell should really be
thinking about putting their properties into auction the first sales of 2021.
This would mean they can take advantage of buyers wanting to purchase during
the stamp duty holiday period, which is due to end on the 31st of
March.”