“It’s really encouraging to see this spike in activity,” says iamsold’s Managing Director, Jamie Cooke, as the company reports sales performance is beating the records when compared to the same time last year.
In fact, sales are up by 20 percent year-over-year with viewings up 22 percent. When it comes to online auctions, iamsold has reported that, compared to 2019, auction sales are up by almost 50 percent.
Online auctions took quarantine with stride. They offer a contactless and therefore safe way to buy and sell a house, meaning they were not affected by lockdown measures like other real estate processes were.
Cooke explained that iamsold’s real estate agents are seeing activity up by 50 to 100 percent compared to pre-Covid-19 numbers. Cooke theorizes the reason for this is due to people looking to change how they live after experiencing quarantine. They’re looking for bigger homes, homes with office space, downsizing to save money, etc.
Cooke said:
“Our feeling is that non-discretionary sales will be a significant proportion of opportunity seen in the coming months, and as a result, we are gearing up for a busy summer as we support our agents by delivering a fast and secure way for their clients to buy and sell property through bespoke online auctions.”
He goes on to say that while experts have been expecting private treaty transactional processes to slow due to the pandemic, iamsold is still reporting that the average completion time of a sale is still 52 days.