The classic “landlord favourite” for buying and selling – the auction house – appears to be bucking the downward trend in the wider housing market.

The UK’s largest property auctioneer, Auction House, has sold a fifth more properties this year than the same period in 2022.

Between the start of January and the end of August, the group successfully sold 2,913 lots, compared to 2,424 last year – a rise of 20 per cent. And in the month of August alone (traditionally a quiet month for auctioneering) the group sold 269 lots, compared to 242 the year before – an 11 per cent increase.

Auction House managing director Jeremy Prior says: “As these figures show, the auction market is simply getting busier and busier. But as a company, what we’ve managed to crack is the ability to track down those elusive buyers who are still prepared to open their wallets. Because, without doubt, there are now some excellent opportunities for investors out there.”

The release of these figures come after predictions from Hamptons that rents will rise four times faster than house prices over the next four years. Using Office for National Statistics and Bank of England data, it forecast that rents could soar by 25 per cent before the end of 2026, compared with a 5.5 per cent growth in house prices.

Auction House is also reporting that 897 lots have been entered into its September auctions – significantly up on the 600-650 properties which were entered in the previous three months.

Prior adds: “The market is clearly going through a very active period. In part, this is down to the fact that we’re witnessing the departure of a number of over-leveraged landlords. But although buyer demand may have decreased, properties coming onto the market are being sold to those canny investors who have cash in the bank, and who are not so reliant on borrowing.

“Buy-to-let properties make up a significant proportion of our stock – with many of those in lower price brackets. And the truth is that lower-value properties often have the highest buyer demand, because they tend to attract a better rental yield than higher value properties.

“And even if there’s another rise in interest rates this week when the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee meets on the 21 September, we would agree with the majority of economists predicting that a 0.25 per cent hike from 5.25 to 5.5 per cent may well represent the peak in UK interest rates.”