What an interesting introduction to Q3 we’ve had this year with July auctions raising a massive £392,601,102! When you compare this with 2019 for the same period, (I’m ignoring the anomalies of 2020 for this metric), the 2019 figure was only £197,505,125.

Not all that glitters is gold – a true comparison will include the number of lots sold and the number of auctions taking place. 89 auctions took place in 2019 with a total of 1,420 lots sold. In 2021 for the same period 55 auctions took place with 1,696 properties sold.

There are some elements which need to be taken into consideration.

1. Commercial property sales are up by almost 128% (year on year) accounting for over a quarter of the amount raised for this period, settling at an attractive £100,800,000 which is up from approx. £34,000,000.

The many more opportunities for exiting landlords and diversifying portfolios/trust/pensions have really changed the landscape.  Owners of commercial property would normally hold these assets for cash flow and (fingers crossed) capital appreciation. The simplification of PD and the changing nature of the high street, tells  these owners that a premium can be applied to their (perhaps) less attractive or underperforming assets.

2. Residential has flown, with sales up by almost 77% (year on year) there were a number of sold lots which will certainly have impacted this result. One of note being Lot A at the Barnett Ross auction which sold for £12,350,000 (very much a non-standard sale price in any auction) with another 10 properties nationally sold for £1.5-2.2m, ranging between mixed use and residential property. The latter point is not uncommon at auction, but the volume is to be considered.