Realtors fear wave of home auctions will drain demand

The large number of property auctions currently being planned will undermine the stability – or growth in certain cases – seen recently in the real estate market, sector experts warn.

According to the compliance report drafted by the European Commission, the government has consented to 40,000 foreclosures per year from 2019 to 2021. This could deliver a killer blow to the property market, even if most of the properties that go under the hammer are bought back by the banks due to a lack of buying interest.

With the average number of annual transactions ranging between 15,000 and 20,000, it is obvious that the entire amount of demand could be absorbed by the auctions, leaving traditional sales high and dry. The oversupply in the market, which has a stock of about 300,000 properties, will increase, while demand has yet to show any signs of recovery.