Property Auction Newsletter April 2011

Essential Auction News

Welcome to the April newsletter that looks at the past month, quarter and year, and compares them with the same periods last year. Whilst the overall sales rate crept over the 70% for the first time since February 2010 (lowest was 58% in September 2010) the value of lots sold was down 22% at £274M compared with March 2010. A more detailed analysis is below.

Kind regards

David Sandeman
Managing Director
davids@eigroup.co.uk

National Auction Analysis

March 2011 was in complete contrast to February 2011. Last month saw falls across both the residential and commercial sector in both lots offered and sold, and in the amount raised. February however saw increases in the very same metrics, though percent sold was down in February but up in March.

The real change in March came in the commercial sector where lots offered and sold were down 26% and amount raised down 52%. The residential sector saw a drop in lots sold of only 1.7% and total raised slipped only 0.9%. The improvement in sale rate and reduction in lots offered and amount raised would suggest that one of the factors could be auctioneers being more selective on the lots taken into auction and that the average lot size has fallen in the commercial sector (see table below).

Average Lot Size
	March 2011	March 2010	% Change
Res & Com Combined	£140,625	£168,207	-16%
Res Only	£128,481	£127,429	1%
Com Only	£194,971	£305,263	-36%

Total

	Last Month			Last Quarter			Last Year
	March 2011	March 2010	Increase	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase	April 2010 - March 2011	April 2009 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	2,756	3,042	-9.4%	6,792	6,651	2.1%	31,623	29,850	5.9%
Lots Sold	1,949	2,102	-7.3%	4,794	4,717	1.6%	21,867	22,056	-0.9%
Percent Sold	70.7%	69.1%	2.3%	70.6%	70.9%	-0.4%	69.1%	73.9%	-6.5%
Total Raised	£274,079,963	£353,571,875	-22.5%	£677,613,103	£711,518,166	-4.8%	£3,242,033,209	£3,448,027,381	-6.0%

Residential

	Last Month			Last Quarter			Last Year
	March 2011	March 2010	Increase	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase	April 2010 - March 2011	April 2009 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	2,245	2,355	-4.7%	5,558	5,312	4.6%	25,527	23,868	7.0%
Lots Sold	1,593	1,620	-1.7%	3,942	3,760	4.8%	17,553	17,557	0.0%
Percent Sold	71%	68.8%	3.2%	70.9%	70.8%	0.1%	68.8%	73.6%	-6.5%
Total Raised	£204,670,236	£206,434,975	-0.9%	£480,874,345	£470,011,441	2.3%	£2,213,375,982	£2,252,361,805	-1.7%

Commercial

	Last Month			Last Quarter			Last Year
	March 2011	March 2010	Increase	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase	April 2010 - March 2011	April 2009 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	509	687	-25.9%	1,234	1,336	-7.6%	6,096	5,979	2.0%
Lots Sold	356	482	-26.1%	852	957	-11.0%	4,314	4,499	-4.1%
Percent Sold	69.9%	70.2%	-0.4%	69%	71.6%	-3.6%	70.8%	75.2%	-5.9%
Total Raised	£69,409,727	£147,136,900	-52.8%	£196,738,758	£241,506,725	-18.5%	£1,028,657,227	£1,195,665,576	-14.0%

Regional Auction Analysis

As is usually the case, variations across all the measurable parameters can be seen across the regions.

East Anglia

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	208	249	-16.5%
Lots Sold	149	159	-6.3%
Percent Sold	71.6%	63.9%	12.1%
Total Raised	£21,488,650	£21,785,600	-1.4%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	165	180	-8.3%
Lots Sold	123	116	6.0%
Percent Sold	74.5%	64.4%	15.7%
Total Raised	£13,426,650	£14,398,100	-6.7%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	43	69	-37.7%
Lots Sold	26	43	-39.5%
Percent Sold	60.5%	62.3%	-2.9%
Total Raised	£8,062,000	£7,387,500	9.1%

East Midlands

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	511	543	-5.9%
Lots Sold	356	409	-13.0%
Percent Sold	69.7%	75.3%	-7.4%
Total Raised	£32,534,511	£48,275,874	-32.6%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	431	448	-3.8%
Lots Sold	309	343	-9.9%
Percent Sold	71.7%	76.6%	-6.4%
Total Raised	£25,179,861	£31,993,624	-21.3%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	80	95	-15.8%
Lots Sold	47	66	-28.8%
Percent Sold	58.8%	69.5%	-15.4%
Total Raised	£7,354,650	£16,282,250	-54.8%

London

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	813	899	-9.6%
Lots Sold	661	708	-6.6%
Percent Sold	81.3%	78.8%	3.2%
Total Raised	£200,629,500	£222,680,160	-9.9%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	695	751	-7.5%
Lots Sold	567	588	-3.6%
Percent Sold	81.6%	78.3%	4.2%
Total Raised	£143,260,750	£141,341,810	1.4%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	118	148	-20.3%
Lots Sold	94	120	-21.7%
Percent Sold	79.7%	81.1%	-1.7%
Total Raised	£57,368,750	£81,338,350	-29.5%

North-East

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	613	518	18.3%
Lots Sold	336	264	27.3%
Percent Sold	54.8%	51%	7.5%
Total Raised	£25,215,415	£24,932,400	1.1%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	562	474	18.6%
Lots Sold	314	236	33.1%
Percent Sold	55.9%	49.8%	12.2%
Total Raised	£22,946,665	£17,367,300	32.1%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	51	44	15.9%
Lots Sold	22	28	-21.4%
Percent Sold	43.1%	63.6%	-32.2%
Total Raised	£2,268,750	£7,565,100	-70.0%

North-West

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	974	1,056	-7.8%
Lots Sold	670	738	-9.2%
Percent Sold	68.8%	69.9%	-1.6%
Total Raised	£58,471,411	£60,307,421	-3.0%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	757	867	-12.7%
Lots Sold	525	608	-13.7%
Percent Sold	69.4%	70.1%	-1.0%
Total Raised	£40,860,461	£44,032,371	-7.2%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	217	189	14.8%
Lots Sold	145	130	11.5%
Percent Sold	66.8%	68.8%	-2.9%
Total Raised	£17,610,950	£16,275,050	8.2%

North-West Home Counties

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	276	373	-26.0%
Lots Sold	203	270	-24.8%
Percent Sold	73.6%	72.4%	1.7%
Total Raised	£58,093,850	£62,876,325	-7.6%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	207	243	-14.8%
Lots Sold	154	179	-14.0%
Percent Sold	74.4%	73.7%	0.9%
Total Raised	£30,319,000	£35,931,000	-15.6%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	69	130	-46.9%
Lots Sold	49	91	-46.2%
Percent Sold	71%	70%	1.4%
Total Raised	£27,774,850	£26,945,325	3.1%

Scotland

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	136	139	-2.2%
Lots Sold	80	91	-12.1%
Percent Sold	58.8%	65.5%	-10.2%
Total Raised	£8,236,720	£9,378,351	-12.2%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	107	80	33.8%
Lots Sold	65	47	38.3%
Percent Sold	60.7%	58.8%	3.2%
Total Raised	£5,132,220	£3,299,401	55.6%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	29	59	-50.8%
Lots Sold	15	44	-65.9%
Percent Sold	51.7%	74.6%	-30.7%
Total Raised	£3,104,500	£6,078,950	-48.9%

South-East Home Counties

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	791	733	7.9%
Lots Sold	587	572	2.6%
Percent Sold	74.2%	78%	-4.9%
Total Raised	£114,341,900	£104,567,800	9.3%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	649	549	18.2%
Lots Sold	475	443	7.2%
Percent Sold	73.2%	80.7%	-9.3%
Total Raised	£87,409,450	£69,990,400	24.9%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	142	184	-22.8%
Lots Sold	112	129	-13.2%
Percent Sold	78.9%	70.1%	12.6%
Total Raised	£26,932,450	£34,577,400	-22.1%

South-West

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	465	429	8.4%
Lots Sold	338	308	9.7%
Percent Sold	72.7%	71.8%	1.3%
Total Raised	£42,090,381	£41,138,299	2.3%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	353	325	8.6%
Lots Sold	250	226	10.6%
Percent Sold	70.8%	69.5%	1.9%
Total Raised	£28,694,050	£31,136,799	-7.8%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	112	104	7.7%
Lots Sold	88	82	7.3%
Percent Sold	78.6%	78.8%	-0.3%
Total Raised	£13,396,331	£10,001,500	33.9%

Wales

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	511	439	16.4%
Lots Sold	349	300	16.3%
Percent Sold	68.3%	68.3%	0.0%
Total Raised	£27,194,750	£25,296,750	7.5%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	402	358	12.3%
Lots Sold	274	246	11.4%
Percent Sold	68.2%	68.7%	-0.7%
Total Raised	£18,594,750	£18,925,250	-1.7%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	109	81	34.6%
Lots Sold	75	54	38.9%
Percent Sold	68.8%	66.7%	3.1%
Total Raised	£8,600,000	£6,371,500	35.0%

West Midlands

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	685	645	6.2%
Lots Sold	520	464	12.1%
Percent Sold	75.9%	71.9%	5.6%
Total Raised	£43,973,202	£47,671,926	-7.8%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	578	524	10.3%
Lots Sold	442	375	17.9%
Percent Sold	76.5%	71.6%	6.8%
Total Raised	£30,855,102	£32,564,676	-5.2%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	107	121	-11.6%
Lots Sold	78	89	-12.4%
Percent Sold	72.9%	73.6%	-1.0%
Total Raised	£13,118,100	£15,107,250	-13.2%

Yorkshire and The Humber

Total
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	767	611	25.5%
Lots Sold	521	426	22.3%
Percent Sold	67.9%	69.7%	-2.6%
Total Raised	£44,127,213	£42,172,760	4.6%

Residential
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	612	499	22.6%
Lots Sold	420	345	21.7%
Percent Sold	68.6%	69.1%	-0.7%
Total Raised	£32,979,786	£28,596,210	15.3%

Commercial
	January 2011 - March 2011	January 2010 - March 2010	Increase
Lots Offered	155	112	38.4%
Lots Sold	101	81	24.7%
Percent Sold	65.2%	72.3%	-9.8%
Total Raised	£11,147,427	£13,576,550	-17.9%

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