Property auctions in Northern Ireland, Scotland and North East England recorded the largest regional growth in the first half of 2013.
The largest increase of any of the top regional auction houses was recorded by BRG Gibson in Northern Ireland, which saw revenues soar by 161% to £5.9m.
This was followed by Scottish auctioneers Wilsons which recorded a 54.7% increase in capital value. In England, North East-based Agents Property Auction increased revenue by 53.4% to £32.3m and the North West’s Pugh increased by 23% to £34m.
In Northern Ireland, an increase in repossessions, typically 60% of stock offered, was behind the growth, said Nicholas Gibson, director of BRG Gibson, which held its first auction in November 2011.
He said the market was now more fully functioning, particularly at the lower end. “A lot of people are under water and that’s the reason why there are so many repossessions,” Gibson said. “The plus side of it is that properties are selling. Mortgages are also coming back into the market because of more confident lending institutions which recognise that prices have dropped so much that investors can now get more than 10% return on rental investments.”
The firm is in the process of expanding to the Republic of Ireland and held its first auction in Dublin in June, with two further sales planned this year and eight in the pipeline for 2014.
The Scottish auction market has also benefited from the growing repossession market, said Ricky Wilson, of Wilsons: “We are selling for more private vendors than ever, but the increase has been with insolvency practitioners and asset managers who are now going the auction route.”
The firm typically sells 10%-20% of lots via its online bidding facility, often to international buyers from as far afield as Australia and Dubai.
Richard Francis of Northumberland-based Agents Property Auction put much of his firm’s growth down to the conditional model, which allows 28 days for buyers to exchange once the hammer comes down.
Francis also noted more homes being offered for unconditional auction: “We are seeing an increase in the number of repossessions as more asset managers come direct to us to offer unconditional auction lots.”
The largest decrease in the first half of 2013 was recorded by Eddisons, where capital values shrunk by 29.5% to £21.4m. Midlands auctioneer Graham Penny also reduced receipts, down 16.9% to £15.5m.
samantha.baden@estatesgazette.com
