Property auctions move online

Zoopla.co.uk is holding online weekly auctions initially focused on repossessed properties.

The property website plans to broaden out the auction via its network of member estate agents to include any property where there is a motivated seller.

At the first online auction, held in mid-February, and the first event of its kind in the UK, 57 properties were sold either in the run up to or during the live online bidding over the weekend.

With over 75,000 visitors to the auction site and more than 1,000 potential buyers registered for the first auction, Zoopla believes the UK is set to follow the US trend where property auctions have evolved over the past two years away from ballrooms to the internet.

Bidders in the first Zoopla.co.uk online auction included first-time buyers, bargain hunters and seasoned investors. The properties on offer ranged from studio flats for £30,000 to a farm in Lancashire for £750,000, with an average value of properties in the auction at £104,000.

Zoopla.co.uk has partnered with American auction house REDC, which claims to be the world’s largest property auction firm, currently selling over £600 million worth of property annually via its online auctions in the US. This is not REDC’s first UK auction venture as it conducted five auctions around the UK last spring time accompanied by a massive marketing campaign including TV adverts.

Alex Chesterman, CEO of Zoopla.co.uk, said of the first auction: “With over 50 properties being sold, we are very encouraged by the potential of the online model and it clearly signals the appetite of both buyers and sellers to transact in this transparent way. We see this as one of the most exciting developments in the UK property market in some time, which benefits buyers, sellers and agents alike.”