As property investors grow in confidence and become keener to snap up a bargain from the still somewhat distressed housing market, it is perhaps only natural that property auctions have emerged as one of the winners of the downturn.

According to Countrywide, four out of five properties are now sold on the day at most auctions, compared to last year when less than half of the offering would be snapped up. 

These findings have been confirmed by a property auction recently held by Eddisons in Leeds and

Manchester

. The auctioneer revealed that the two-day sale had realised over £5.2 million, marking a sharp increase from its last auction in September, which raised £4 million.

Tony Webber, of Eddisons, has said that sixty out of eighty two lots – or 73% of the total lots – were snapped up by hungry investors.

Describing a noticeably more optimistic mood at the auction, he commented: “Development opportunities which have attracted less interest of late due to funding difficulties were the subject of some of the fiercest bidding and achieved prices well beyond their original guide.”

Bridging finance has always been linked to buying property at auction, but as banks increasingly drag their heels over new lending, bridging lenders have said that short term loans have taken on an even more central role in the auction house.