Fri 23 May 2008
Auctions triple in 2008
The number of properties put up for auction has tripled since January, according to auction house Sutton Kersh Binstock, who have witnessed a massive increase in properties referred to them.Andrew Binstock, director and auctioneer at SKB, said “There has been a huge surge in the number of valuation requests for properties in 2008. Normally we would expect to receive around 50 for any given auction. We are our now receiving between 150 and 200 per auction”.
Binstock believes one of the main reasons more people are putting properties up for auction is due to increased desperation due to the current state of the housing market.
The latest figures suggest the one in three housing deals are falling through – in spring 2006 the “fall-through rate” of sales was about 15%. It now stands at 45%.
Among the reasons cited for the increase include loss of confidence in the housing market, difficulty obtaining mortgages and problems with properties being overvalued.
Binstock adds: “Part of the problem is that many estate agents are over valuing properties because vendors are often unwilling to accept that the property has fallen in price. This has resulted in deals falling through all the time – leading to piles and piles of properties on our desks”.
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