Auction.com Reports Buyers’ Optimism Grows

(Image courtesy of Auction.com; Breakout image courtesy of Mohamed hamdi/pexels.com)

Auction.com, Irvine, Calif., released its 2025 Buyer Insights Report, finding 64% of buyers of distressed properties at auction expect their purchases to increase in 2025, up from 60% in 2024 and 54% in 2023.

A third expect home prices to decline in 2025, down from 40% who said the same last year. And 43% say the market is overvalued, down from 49% in 2024.

In addition, 74% expect rent growth this year, up from 71% in 2024.

Forty-three percent of all buyers describe their local market as overvalued, down from 49% a year ago.

More buyers say they’re owner-occupants, at 26%, up from 13% last year. Breaking down buyer types further, 63% say they are local community developers, 4% say they are institutional investors and 8% identify as “other.”

Fifty-five percent of buyers also said they renovate the homes and sell them to owner-occupants as a primary investing strategy, flat from last year. Thirty-three percent renovate and rent as a primary strategy, down from 39% who said the same last year.

The vast majority of buyers purchased 10 or fewer properties in 2024, at 97%. That’s up slightly from 96%. Moreover, 73% purchased five or fewer.

As for why buyers are buying, 84% reported they’re looking to build generational wealth, 33% said they hope to improve neighborhoods, 29% are looking to expand homeownership, 26% pointed to providing affordable housing and 20% said they want to create jobs.

More buyers are purchasing distressed properties via online auctions, the survey found, with 50% saying that they’re the buyers’ top acquisition method, up from 46% last year. In contrast, 28% rank in-person auctions as their top acquisition method, compared with 37% a year ago, and 11% pointed to off-market as their top acquisition method, up from 7% in 2024.