New industry data has revealed the UK’s property auction ‘hotspots’ - and that Cornwall is seeing a drop in prices. 

The report, from Essential Information Group (EIG) tracked growth areas for auctions across the country, taking into account the numbers of sales and the average sale price in each region. 

Cornwall saw 233 property lots auctioned in 2022-23, down by one per cent from the previous year’s 236, but higher than in 2018 (200), when EIG started tracking the data. 

Average property auction prices dropped further, falling by 23 per cent from £186,749 to £144,084, but were slightly higher than 2018’s average sale price of £142,360. 

In the South West, the year from 2022-2023 saw 19 per cent more property sales via auction than the previous, with 1,936 lots recorded compared to 1,622 in 2021. 

This percentage rises further when data is restricted to only residential properties, with a 26 per cent increase. 

However, the average sale price for all property auctions in the South West has dropped, falling by 12 per cent from £216,060 to £189,201, while residential properties also saw a dip of four per cent. 

EIG commented: “Overall, 81 per cent of the country saw growth in the number of lots sold in 2022 and 2023 compared to 2018 to 2019, of which 42 per cent saw increases of over 30 per cent. 

“This shows that despite economic adversities and a global pandemic, demand for auctions remained strong. Residential in particular held its own for the volume of sales, while we have witnessed a fall in the average sale price from Q4 2022. 

“Our latest newsletter has indicated that the residential market is now dropping back in terms of lots sold, so we will be keeping a close eye on that. The commercial and mixed-use market both started to show stagnation for lots offered and sale price, but on the whole have been holding steady.”