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Sales at auctions treble
12 June, 2008
Auction houses are seeing a huge increase in the number of properties being sold at auction.
Events in the housing market have had a huge impact on the property auction industry over the last few months and the number of properties being brought to auction house Sutton Kersh Binstock (SKB) by vendors has tripled since January.
Commenting on this, Andrew Binstock, head auctioneer at SKB, said: “This month has been a dramatic increase in the number of properties landing on our desks. One reason for this is that there are a huge number of deals that are falling through on the open market.”
The latest figures suggest that one in three housing deals are falling through – in spring 2006 the “fall-through rate” of sales was about 15 per cent. It now stands at 45 per cent.
Binstock says: “One reason properties aren’t selling on the open market is that estate agents are overvaluing them so they can get vendors on their books – this results in properties staying in estate agent windows for months on end without moving. Eventually people get fed up and go to auction because it’s the most efficient way to secure a deal.”