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Liquidity of Auction Market
Graph 1 demonstrates that the number of residential lots sold at auction is rising. From a three year peak of 5,429 in Q2 ’07, transactions fell to 3,903 in Q1 ’08 but have risen to 4,177 by Q2 ’08. The rise in lots can be attributed mainly to the growing number of repossessed homes reaching the auction rooms. (This is dealt with in the next section). This recent increase is also evidence of the fact that auctions offer more certainty of a successful outcome particularly in the current market. Sellers, who a year or so ago were managing to achieve quick and relatively easy sales through traditional routes, are now facing a depletion in the number of serious purchasers and also experiencing delays in concluding a successful transaction.
By contrast Graph 2 shows the volume of transactions recorded by the Land Registry since June 2002 (not seasonally adjusted). From a peak of 123,000 in June 2007, just prior to the start of the current financial crisis, sales have fallen to less than half this level.
Land Registry figures are only available to end of May 2008. Further information can be obtained from the Land Registry website: www.landregistry.gov.uk
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 Graph 1
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