House prices are losing their value at auction faster than they are on the market as a whole, it has been revealed.
The price of homes sold at auction has dropped by a quarter over the past year, it was revealed today.
Figures unearthed by the Liberal Democrats show the pronounced decline, which far outstrips falls in house prices. The average auctioned property sold between June and August fetched £130,400 - around £40,000 down on the equivalent period in 2007.
However, according to most recent house price research from lenders, the average UK property lost over ten percent of its value over the past 12 months. For its part, Halifax predicts a total drop in prices in this current downturn at 31 percent, with a recovery to come only in 2011.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Matthew Oakeshott said: "These dramatic figures show just how fast house prices are falling at the sharp end. The government must do far more to empower housing associations and councils to buy unsold homes and land, which would save our building industry from collapse."
Speaking to the Times, Richard Morea at brokerage London and Country suggested that price trends in auctioned homes might differ slightly from the rest of the market, however. "Properties sold at auction could include the increasing number of repossessed houses or those being sold because of probate or a divorce settlement," he commented.
"People who are desperate to sell simply have to take a sizeable cut at the moment."
