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Award winning property auctioneer Auction House is announcing record sales for July 2014, marking a six year high for UK auctioneers as a whole.

Despite the distractions of summer sun and a feast of sport, the group sold 379 lots in the month, over 8% up on its previous best, and raised £38.5 million in the process.

Commenting on the achievement, Founding Director Roger Lake said: ”These record figures are not only a brilliant result for Auction House, but also a real sign of buoyancy in our sector.

“As our numbers demonstrate, regional auctions are becoming more and more popular. But it’s the

Selling property at auction can be an option. If you are considering selling up and want to know how much your property might be worth at auction, why not send us a few details and one of our auctioneers will give you a ring, to chat further about your requirements.

Don't be daunted! Selling a property by auction is easier than many people think, and the prices that we achieve are usually higher than expected too. Our auction partners have sold more than 2,500 properties throughout the UK, over the past 12 months; that's more than any other auctioneer since, well since auctions started! This

Leading Essex & Hertfordshire estate agent Mullucks Wells has responded to the latest Rightmove House Price Index, which indicates that this month has recorded a record drop in August property prices.

The largest monthly sample of residential house prices has seen the asking prices of property coming to market cut by 2.9% - the biggest fall Rightmove has ever recorded in August.

Mullucks Wells Residential Director William Wells said: “We would expect to see prices soften a little during the holiday month of August anyway. But this larger than usual fall is probably down to three key factors.

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House sellers' asking prices fell steeply by 2.9% month-on-month to £262,401 typically in August as the mood of the market grows calmer in London in particular, website Rightmove has reported.

The dip as sellers adopt a "summer sales" attitude is the largest for the month of August that Rightmove has on its records, which go back more than a decade.

Asking prices in London saw the largest monthly drop across England and Wales, with average prices in the capital standing at £552,783, which is 5.9% lower than in July.

Despite the drop, asking prices in the capital are still 10.3% higher than

The number of UK homes repossessed during the Spring fell, but households have been warned by lenders to prepare for rate rises.

A total of 5,400 properties were repossessed in the second quarter of the year, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.

This was down 1,000 on the previous three months, and down by 2,200 on the same period a year ago.

The CML said that it would welcome Bank rate rises only in "baby steps".

"Rates will rise at some stage, of course, and borrowers should be planning for that now," said Paul Smee, director general of the CML.

"We welcome the message from the Bank

House prices in Scotland are holding up as a result of growing demand and a lack of supply of homes, according to Scottish surveyors.

The findings by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) are in contrast to other parts of the UK, especially London, where both sales and new buyer demand fell sharply.

Rics said demand for new homes in Scotland grew in July. It noted that more surveyors reported a growth in new buyer inquiries.

The number of homes coming onto the market also increased in July, with 8% of respondents reporting an increase in new instructions,

Rics said the continuing

Symonds & Sampson’s auction at the Digby Hall, Sherborne, on 31 July was a huge success with red hot prices on a very warm day.

Mark Lewis explains, “We had properties on offer in 5 counties, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire and had a terrific response to the advertising including coverage at The London Office.”

Land at East Knoyle which had been planted as woodland with a building was sold prior to the auction at £14,000 per acre whilst 9 acres of land at Hazelbury Bryan sold for £7,900 per acre.  Further land at Milton on Stour, Gillingham, sold for £10,000 per acre.

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People buying a home in the last year typically spent just 33 minutes looking around the property before making what is likely to be one of the most expensive purchase decisions of their lives, according to a survey, by Aviva.

The commissioned research among 4,000 home owners, suggested that the recent strong competition seen in the housing market is forcing some buyers to make "snap decisions", with one in four (24%) of home owners saying they only made one viewing before they decided to buy.

The average amount of time that people who had bought their property six to 10 years ago estimated

Award-winning brand Auction House has been joined by South and West of England based auctioneer Symonds & Sampson, increasing the company’s total number of auction rooms nationwide to 40.

Symonds & Sampson were first established in 1858 and have been recognised as the leading firm of auctioneers in the region for a number of years (EIG statistics).  The new Auction House Symonds & Sampson region will stretch from East Devon, throughout Dorset and South Somerset to Wiltshire and down to the borders of the New Forest and Hampshire.

Auction House Founding Director Roger Lake said: “We are

The performance of Northern Ireland's housing market between April and June was at its strongest level since 2007, according to findings contained in the latest University of Ulster quarterly house price index. The average house cost £139,720, up 6.9% on the same period last year and 1.4% higher than the first quarter.

Researchers said rises in transaction levels and prices suggested "a significant shift in market sentiment", whilst the report suggests sales values "still reflected an affordable price structure in Northern Ireland".

While the overall price growth was reflected across several