Auctions of repossessed homes soar (February 01, 2008)

Auctions of repossessed homes soar

The number of repossessed homes being sold at auction has doubled since last year, a leading auctioneer said yesterday.

Allsop, the UK’s biggest property auction house, said that nearly 40 per cent of the properties going under the hammer at auction next month were repossessed by banks or building societies. Last February, just 20 per cent of properties auctioned were repossessed.

Gary Murphy, a partner at Allsop, said: “The number of repossessions we deal with leapt after last summer. Between 45 per cent and 50 per cent of properties in our last three sales were repossessions.”

Mr Murphy said that property investors were struggling with spiralling mortgage costs after five base rate rises and only one rate cut in the last 18 months. “The rise in repossessions is down to the fact that borrowers are having difficulties repaying their loans and a large proportion of these are buy-to-let investors who failed to appreciate the pitfalls of property investment,” he said.

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