Property auction success rate at three year low

RICS says tighter lending conditions and uncertainty over the outlook for house prices are driving buyers away from auction houses. According to RICS, just 57% of property successfully sold at auction during the final quarter of 2007, down from 69% in the same period of 2006. A total of 4,539 properties were sold at action in the final three months of 2007, a fall of 9% compared with the previous quarter. Oliver Gilmartin, economist at RICS, says: “Fears over further house price falls have taken some stimulus out of achieved sales at the auction house as specialist lending has all but ev...