Auction House – operating as Loveitts
Auction House in Coventry and Warwickshire - has announced its highest-ever
monthly sales total, with its sales in May alone exceeding £70m (£70,309,251).
The group
sold 397 properties from 466 properties offered under the hammer last month, at
an impressive success rate of 85.2%.
This means
that so far this year the group has sold 1,395 lots from 1,709 offered, at a
success rate of 81.6%, and has raised a total of over £220m (£221,674,003).
Commenting
on the figures, Sally Smith, Auctioneer and Director said: “Not only has
Auction House continued to sell more properties every year than any other UK
auctioneer, but it’s now exceeded its previous best by selling over £70m of
property in a single calendar month.
“This is
an incredible achievement – especially when you take into account the fact that
this figure has been achieved almost exclusively for our private sellers. The
closure of courts during the Covid 19 crisis means that we have been without
our usual selection of repossessions – often seen as the lifeblood of auction
stock - from corporate clients.
“No doubt
the end of the Stamp Duty holiday at the end of this month has been one of the
factors which have driven sales forward – but we have seen enthusiastic bidding
and an appetite for purchasing property that has continued undiminished, even
while the pandemic and restrictions have continued.”
Indeed,
Sally Smith says that she believes property prices are going to continue to
hold their own for some time to come, despite rumours that a house price crash is
on the horizon.
She
explains: “For a house price crash to happen, a mix of certain ingredients has
to be in place. For example, during difficult times like these, there would
have to be a lack of government intervention and support. But, as we’ve seen from
measures like quantitative easing, extensive furlough, and the stamp duty
holiday, the government has already done a considerable amount to prop up the
market.
“There
also seems to be no appetite on the part of the government to pay back the
massive debt that has been accrued over the pandemic – which would certainly
act as a huge deflationary pressure. So, with all of that taken into account,
whilst we may see a cooling off in the market, I honestly think it’s difficult
to envisage a house price crash in the near term.”
Sally
Smith’s upbeat analysis was echoed by industry analysts and forecasters who
took part in Auction House’s recent annual conference – which was held
virtually for the very first time, via live video stream last week (Friday 4
June).
Sally Smith
added: “Most importantly, the phenomenal success of Auction House means that
there is a plethora of happy vendors out there, successfully selling to lots of
interested buyers, with bidding staying keen and prices remaining buoyant. And
that’s a situation we expect to continue for some time to come.”