Estate agents sold more residential properties than ever before via auction during April to June.

In Q2, 2,354 properties were sold via the Modern Method of Auction (MMoA), up by 32% compared to Q2 2022. This raised over £412m in capital value for vendors, increasing by 24%, up from £331m in Q2 last year. Sales steadily increased from Q1 this year, up from 2,252 (Jan-Mar).

These findings come from iamproperty’s Q2 Online Auction Index, which provides a quarterly overview of the growing MMoA market.

In Q2, agents’ fees from auction sales grew to £8.2m, up by 26% from £6.5m in Q1, with 7-day payments boosting their revenues and securing their cashflow.

The Index also includes a regional overview, and in Q2 (for the second quarter in a row), auction sales in the South saw the biggest growth, with a 67% increase compared to the same period last year. The highest selling property during the quarter was in Essex and sold for £2.4m.

Jamie Cooke, co-founder of iamproperty, said: “With the new challenges in the market, agents have had to work especially hard to win new listings, set strong prices for their vendors and avoid sales falling through. Auction really comes into its own in market conditions like these, helping to push through sales for both agents and vendors.

“Our Q2 Index shows another quarter of growth for auction, and it was our highest selling quarter. Even before the market was hit with increased mortgage rates, consumers have never been more open to auction as an alternative method of buying and selling, creating opportunities for agents across the UK.

“I hope the data and insights in our Index can support agents when presenting auction as a method of sale to their clients, to show how it could be a viable and successful option for them.”