Property auction prospects for 2024

The challenges of 2023

Continued interest rate rises, which have only recently begun to flatten, have forced many sellers to realise that to achieve a sale on their property within a reasonable time frame, they would be selling at a figure significantly less than during the heady post-COVID boom that the property market experienced.

This has given rise to significantly larger catalogues for all the main auction houses although this has not translated into a significantly larger number of properties being sold at auction. Indeed, the number of properties withdrawn before the auction or unsold on the day of the auction has been higher than previously seen in the market.

Interestingly, there has also been a significant rise in the number of people buying at auction to live in the property themselves rather than what is the traditional type of auction purchaser looking to ‘flip’ a property and move on.

Without a doubt, the type of property that has proven more difficult to sell than any other during the last 12 months has been tenanted flats, due to the lower number of investor landlords who are in the market at the moment.

More of the same for 2024

There are still many people who are yet to come to the end of competitive fixed-rate mortgage deals. For some, the significant rise in monthly repayments when they do will prove extremely challenging and they may want to exit the market quickly.

It is anticipated that interest rates will stay at current levels. The UK Government has not yet achieved its target inflation figure and has stated repeatedly that it will use increased interest rates to reduce inflation.

Being an investor landlord has lost its appeal to many over the last 12 months and the reduced number of buyers will continue to squeeze pricing in this sector.