Last month was a good one for the UK property auction sector, which continues to attract a wide array of national and international property investors.
According to the Essential Information Group (EIG), the volume of property auction lots offered, sold and the amounts achieved in June all increased sharply, owed in part to the fact that many property investors were rushing to complete property deals before the stamp duty deadline.
In England and Northern Ireland buyers were keen to complete transactions before the temporarily increased “nil rate” band to £500,000 for residential stamp duty land tax (SDLT) ended on 30 June.
The temporarily increased nil rate band has now shrunk to £250,000, until 30 September, meaning current buyers still have an opportunity to make some tax savings. From October it will revert to normal levels.
The number of lots offered in June was 2,329, up 104.% year-on-year.
The volume of lots sold reached 1,852 - an increase of 1072.% year-on-year.
David Sandeman, managing director at EIG, said: “I do not recall seeing one [a month] where so many of the measurable metrics have increased by over 100% when compared with their respective period in the previous year.”
| Overall Statistics May 2021 | |
|---|---|
| Auctions Held in the UK | 68 |
| Total Lots Offered | 2,329 |
| Total Lots Sold | 1,852 |
| Percent Sold | 79.5% |
| Total Realised | £386,570,183 |
Sandeman continued: “Whilst May 2020 was just six weeks after the first lockdown, and therefore a quiet month in terms of auctions, these numbers that we see for May 2021 are in the main slightly higher than what we saw in May 2019. Compared with last year we saw a number of auctioneers hold an auction in May 2021 but not in May 2020, and in most cases each auctioneer sold more lots and raised more in sales than in 2020.
“Going forward I would expect to see these dramatic increases in sales start to recede over the coming months but will continue to be higher that the comparative period in 2020.”
National Auction Analysis
Overall
N.B. Figures in brackets denote the comparative period last year
| May 2021 | March 2021 to May 2021 | June 2020 to May 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 2,329 (1,137) | ▲ 104.8% | 6,444 (4,094) | ▲ 57.4% | 24,345 (25,297) | ▼ 3.8% |
| Lots Sold | 1,852 (894) | ▲ 107.2% | 5,139 (2,927) | ▲ 75.6% | 19,329 (18,964) | ▲ 1.9% |
| Percent Sold | 79.5% (78.6%) | ▲ 1.1% | 79.7% (71.5%) | ▲ 11.5% | 79.4% (75.0%) | ▲ 5.9% |
| Total Raised | £386.6M (£192.6M) | ▲ 100.7% | £1,047.9M (£490.9M) | ▲ 113.4% | £3,788.5M (£3,113.6M) | ▲ 21.7% |
Residential
N.B. Figures in brackets denote the comparative period last year
| May 2021 | March 2021 to May 2021 | June 2020 to May 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 2,027 (966) | ▲ 109.8% | 5,702 (3,524) | ▲ 61.8% | 21,495 (21,474) | ▲ 0.1% |
| Lots Sold | 1,617 (752) | ▲ 115.0% | 4,547 (2,513) | ▲ 80.9% | 17,032 (16,104) | ▲ 5.8% |
| Percent Sold | 79.8% (77.8%) | ▲ 2.6% | 79.7% (71.3%) | ▲ 11.8% | 79.2% (75.0%) | ▲ 5.6% |
| Total Raised | £274.1M (£126.9M) | ▲ 116.0% | £798.7M (£367.6M) | ▲ 117.3% | £2,919.2M (£2,321.2M) | ▲ 25.8% |
Commercial
N.B. Figures in brackets denote the comparative period last year
| May 2021 | March 2021 to May 2021 | June 2020 to May 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 302 (171) | ▲ 76.6% | 742 (570) | ▲ 30.2% | 2,850 (3,823) | ▼ 25.5% |
| Lots Sold | 235 (142) | ▲ 65.5% | 592 (414) | ▲ 43.0% | 2,297 (2,860) | ▼ 19.7% |
| Percent Sold | 77.8% (83.0%) | ▼ 6.3% | 79.8% (72.6%) | ▲ 9.9% | 80.6% (74.8%) | ▲ 7.8% |
| Total Raised | £112.5M (£65.7M) | ▲ 71.3% | £249.1M (£123.3M) | ▲ 102.0% | £869.3M (£792.4M) | ▲ 9.7% |
Regional Auction Analysis
As is usually the case, variations across all the measurable parameters can be seen across the regions.
N.B. Figures in brackets denote the comparative period last year
East Anglia
(Includes Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk)
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 244 (160) | ▲ 52.5% | 217 (130) | ▲ 66.9% | 27 (30) | ▼ 10.0% |
| Lots Sold | 200 (110) | ▲ 81.8% | 177 (87) | ▲ 103.4% | 23 (23) | ▼ 0.0% |
| Percent Sold | 82.0% (68.8%) | ▲ 19.2% | 81.6% (66.9%) | ▲ 22.0% | 85.2% (76.7%) | ▲ 11.1% |
| Total Raised | £41.9M (£16.4M) | ▲ 155.3% | £32.6M (£11.7M) | ▲ 177.8% | £9.3M (£4.7M) | ▲ 98.4% |
East Midlands
(Includes Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland)
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 457 (278) | ▲ 64.4% | 410 (243) | ▲ 68.7% | 47 (35) | ▲ 34.3% |
| Lots Sold | 366 (209) | ▲ 75.1% | 322 (184) | ▲ 75.0% | 44 (25) | ▲ 76.0% |
| Percent Sold | 80.1% (75.2%) | ▲ 6.5% | 78.5% (75.7%) | ▲ 3.7% | 93.6% (71.4%) | ▲ 31.1% |
| Total Raised | £59.6M (£24.0M) | ▲ 148.7% | £45.5M (£20.4M) | ▲ 123.4% | £14.1M (£3.6M) | ▲ 292.5% |
London
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 566 (348) | ▲ 62.6% | 514 (322) | ▲ 59.6% | 52 (26) | ▲ 100.0% |
| Lots Sold | 432 (255) | ▲ 69.4% | 393 (234) | ▲ 67.9% | 39 (21) | ▲ 85.7% |
| Percent Sold | 76.3% (73.3%) | ▲ 4.1% | 76.5% (72.7%) | ▲ 5.2% | 75.0% (80.8%) | ▼ 7.2% |
| Total Raised | £203.5M (£128.6M) | ▲ 58.3% | £172.4M (£102.0M) | ▲ 69.0% | £31.1M (£26.6M) | ▲ 16.9% |
North-East
(Includes Cleveland, County Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear)
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 415 (283) | ▲ 46.6% | 397 (269) | ▲ 47.6% | 18 (14) | ▲ 28.6% |
| Lots Sold | 333 (173) | ▲ 92.5% | 315 (166) | ▲ 89.8% | 18 (7) | ▲ 157.1% |
| Percent Sold | 80.2% (61.1%) | ▲ 31.3% | 79.3% (61.7%) | ▲ 28.5% | 100.0% (50.0%) | ▲ 100.0% |
| Total Raised | £32.3M (£10.8M) | ▲ 200.2% | £24.7M (£9.6M) | ▲ 156.5% | £7.7M (£1.1M) | ▲ 566.5% |
North-West
(Includes Cheshire, Cumbria, Isle of Man, Lancashire, Merseyside)
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 1,255 (829) | ▲ 51.4% | 1,130 (711) | ▲ 58.9% | 125 (118) | ▲ 5.9% |
| Lots Sold | 949 (568) | ▲ 67.1% | 856 (494) | ▲ 73.3% | 93 (74) | ▲ 25.7% |
| Percent Sold | 75.6% (68.5%) | ▲ 10.4% | 75.8% (69.5%) | ▲ 9.1% | 74.4% (62.7%) | ▲ 18.7% |
| Total Raised | £114.1M (£53.9M) | ▲ 111.6% | £90.9M (£40.6M) | ▲ 123.9% | £23.2M (£13.3M) | ▲ 74.1% |
North-West Home Counties
(Includes Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Oxfordshire)
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 402 (257) | ▲ 56.4% | 368 (230) | ▲ 60.0% | 34 (27) | ▲ 25.9% |
| Lots Sold | 307 (200) | ▲ 53.5% | 285 (180) | ▲ 58.3% | 22 (20) | ▲ 10.0% |
| Percent Sold | 76.4% (77.8%) | ▼ 1.8% | 77.4% (78.3%) | ▼ 1.1% | 64.7% (74.1%) | ▼ 12.7% |
| Total Raised | £91.5M (£36.4M) | ▲ 151.2% | £67.7M (£27.4M) | ▲ 147.4% | £23.9M (£9.1M) | ▲ 162.6% |
Northern Ireland
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 3 (0) | ▲ n/a | 3 (0) | ▲ n/a | 0 (0) | ▼ n/a |
| Lots Sold | 3 (0) | ▲ n/a | 3 (0) | ▲ n/a | 0 (0) | ▼ n/a |
| Percent Sold | 100.0% (0.0%) | ▲ n/a | 100.0% (0.0%) | ▲ n/a | 0.0% (0.0%) | ▼ n/a |
| Total Raised | £0.2M (£0.0M) | ▲ n/a | £0.2M (£0.0M) | ▲ n/a | £0.0M (£0.0M) | ▼ n/a |
Scotland
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 63 (44) | ▲ 43.2% | 28 (20) | ▲ 40.0% | 35 (24) | ▲ 45.8% |
| Lots Sold | 42 (32) | ▲ 31.3% | 18 (14) | ▲ 28.6% | 24 (18) | ▲ 33.3% |
| Percent Sold | 66.7% (72.7%) | ▼ 8.3% | 64.3% (70.0%) | ▼ 8.1% | 68.6% (75.0%) | ▼ 8.5% |
| Total Raised | £9.8M (£6.4M) | ▲ 54.0% | £1.1M (£0.7M) | ▲ 59.8% | £8.7M (£5.7M) | ▲ 53.3% |
South-East Home Counties
(Includes East Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Surrey, West Sussex, Channel Islands)
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 1,038 (662) | ▲ 56.8% | 907 (577) | ▲ 57.2% | 131 (85) | ▲ 54.1% |
| Lots Sold | 813 (472) | ▲ 72.2% | 709 (409) | ▲ 73.3% | 104 (63) | ▲ 65.1% |
| Percent Sold | 78.3% (71.3%) | ▲ 9.8% | 78.2% (70.9%) | ▲ 10.3% | 79.4% (74.1%) | ▲ 7.2% |
| Total Raised | £209.6M (£96.5M) | ▲ 117.3% | £152.5M (£73.2M) | ▲ 108.3% | £57.1M (£23.2M) | ▲ 145.7% |
South-West
(Includes Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire, Isles of Scilly)
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 403 (259) | ▲ 55.6% | 325 (214) | ▲ 51.9% | 78 (45) | ▲ 73.3% |
| Lots Sold | 351 (195) | ▲ 80.0% | 285 (156) | ▲ 82.7% | 66 (39) | ▲ 69.2% |
| Percent Sold | 87.1% (75.3%) | ▲ 15.7% | 87.7% (72.9%) | ▲ 20.3% | 84.6% (86.7%) | ▼ 2.4% |
| Total Raised | £85.3M (£28.3M) | ▲ 202.0% | £62.5M (£20.7M) | ▲ 202.0% | £22.8M (£7.5M) | ▲ 202.0% |
Wales
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 391 (282) | ▲ 38.7% | 330 (221) | ▲ 49.3% | 61 (61) | ▼ 0.0% |
| Lots Sold | 316 (195) | ▲ 62.1% | 264 (153) | ▲ 72.5% | 52 (42) | ▲ 23.8% |
| Percent Sold | 80.8% (69.1%) | ▲ 16.9% | 80.0% (69.2%) | ▲ 15.6% | 85.2% (68.9%) | ▲ 23.7% |
| Total Raised | £40.8M (£23.4M) | ▲ 74.4% | £30.9M (£14.5M) | ▲ 113.0% | £9.9M (£8.9M) | ▲ 11.3% |
West Midlands
(Includes Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire)
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 693 (395) | ▲ 75.4% | 617 (348) | ▲ 77.3% | 76 (47) | ▲ 61.7% |
| Lots Sold | 592 (284) | ▲ 108.5% | 535 (248) | ▲ 115.7% | 57 (36) | ▲ 58.3% |
| Percent Sold | 85.4% (71.9%) | ▲ 18.8% | 86.7% (71.3%) | ▲ 21.6% | 75.0% (76.6%) | ▼ 2.1% |
| Total Raised | £97.0M (£38.1M) | ▲ 154.6% | £75.6M (£29.6M) | ▲ 155.5% | £21.4M (£8.5M) | ▲ 151.6% |
Yorkshire and The Humber
(Includes North Humberside, North Yorkshire, South Humberside, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire)
| March 2021 to May 2021 | Total | Residential | Commercial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lots Offered | 514 (297) | ▲ 73.1% | 456 (239) | ▲ 90.8% | 58 (58) | ▼ 0.0% |
| Lots Sold | 435 (234) | ▲ 85.9% | 385 (188) | ▲ 104.8% | 50 (46) | ▲ 8.7% |
| Percent Sold | 84.6% (78.8%) | ▲ 7.4% | 84.4% (78.7%) | ▲ 7.2% | 86.2% (79.3%) | ▲ 8.7% |
| Total Raised | £62.2M (£28.3M) | ▲ 119.9% | £42.2M (£17.2M) | ▲ 144.7% | £20.0M (£11.1M) | ▲ 81.3% |
