By David Lawrenson

Years ago, buying property at auctions was the preserve of a few professional investors and builders.

However, more and more people (and financial institutions) are now both buying and selling property at auction, so that today the volumes sold are approximately three and half times what they were 10 years ago.

According to the Essential Information Group (EIG) - which collates property auction data - a great deal of this increase has come from repossessions.

Increase in Repossessions