As we move through the final quarter of 2025, the property market continues to face headwinds. However, with the auctions route becoming better known and used as well as proposed changes to how buying and selling is conducted in the mainstream market there could be wiggle room for post-Budget movement.
For many households, even though mortgage rates have eased back from their peak, the cost of servicing debt alongside affordability still being stretched compared with just a few years ago is still making some hold off from committing to buying a home.
Investors face similar pressures, with rental stress tests, refinancing costs, and the added weight of higher operating costs and taxation all shaping decisions.
Added to this are political and policy uncertainties.
The Autumn Budget and the long-anticipated Renters (Reform) Bill are both expected to influence confidence – whether in the private rented sector, among landlords reviewing portfolios, or in the wider housing market where potential movers are waiting for clarity before making commitments.
But if that clarity can be delivered in the Budget, giving buyers, sellers, landlords and investors a greater understanding of the route ahead, can the market start to move?
Auctions as a barometer
One of the challenges in assessing the property market is that most data lags. By the time it is published, conditions on the ground may already have shifted. Private treaty sales can take months to complete, meaning official statistics often reflect the past rather than the present.
Auctions, by contrast, provide a live and unfiltered view. This month alone we are offering 444 properties across the UK, ranging in value from around £10,000 to several million pounds. Each auction sale is unconditional, with contracts exchanged there and then.
This is the market in its clearest form – real-time evidence of demand, across regions and price brackets, without delay or revision.
And what that evidence shows right now is a market that remains active but sensitive. Well-located and realistically priced properties continue to draw strong bidding, whereas those guided less sharply are seeing more limited interest. For sellers and agents, that clarity is important in understanding where demand lies and in making better-informed decisions.
Have auctions created a unique climate?
Even in this climate, buyers are still showing clear appetite for quality stock that’s guided at the right level.
On the other side of the deal, sellers are increasingly drawn to the security of sale and the finality of exchange on the day as a primary factor in choosing auction. The 28-day set completion period is proving a significant appeal to sellers, providing clarity and reliability over when the transaction will conclude.
This is why reflecting these conditions in the mainstream homebuying process could bring success if properly implemented as has been mooted in the run up to the Budget.
The more informed and binding system in auctions of offering and selling means the market of buyers and sellers will be more committed, reducing the likelihood of cold feet, bargaining last-minute negotiations or gazumping by other interested parties.
By front loading elements such as legal documents, background checks and searches both buyers and sellers have confidently and fully committed to the transaction. This means when the hammer falls contracts are exchanged and the sale will go through.
Reduced delays and failed transactions can not only save buyers and sellers from the ballooning costs we have seen reported but help to breathe life into the property market and economy.
It can also provide a welcome boost for estate agents who will see improvement in fees coming through from avoiding delays, de-listings and removed offers from the current out-of-date system.
Changing behaviours from agents
Adding to this potential change is a shift that is already underway.
We are seeing that both residential and commercial agents are leading with auction as the first option for suitable stock, rather than a fallback. There is special appeal for sellers of empty probate properties, private landlords considering exit from property portfolios and commercial asset sales.
Agents who previously used “modern method” auction platforms are also offering the option of traditional auction sale to clients as well. The attraction is the added speed, security and transparency – qualities that are resonating more strongly in the current climate. But importantly, it is the increase in options for selling, whether deciding on auctions or not.
Looking ahead
The coming months will bring new policy announcements and further economic shifts, all of which will influence buyer behaviour. Auctions will continue to deliver certainty at a time when private treaty sales can struggle to provide it and they also bring certainty that supports all sides of the market, ensuring clarity and confidence when conditions are less predictable. And with these conditions, these options and multiple routes to exit if the Budget can provide sensible stability and lay a path forward then there is wiggle room to move the market again.
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