Home Auction Buyer Optimism Hits Three-Year High MABA MassachusettsRealEstate FirstTimeHomeBuyers MaBuyerAgent

 Auction.com has released its 2025 Buyer Insights report, showing buyers of distressed properties at auction are the most optimistic they have been in three years when it comes to expectations for property purchases in the coming year, while becoming less bearish about home price appreciation and rents.

 Based on a February 2025 survey of more than three hundred and fifty Auction.com buyers, the survey also found that twenty six percent of auction buyers describe themselves as owner-occupants, double the share from a year ago.

“Increased purchase expectations from buyers in the countercyclical foreclosure auction market point to more distressed buying opportunities in 2025, but other survey findings indicate buyers expect only a modest increase,” said Jason Allnutt, Auction.com CEO.

One-third of buyers (thirty three percent) surveyed said they expect home prices in their local market to decline in 2025, down from forty percent in the 2024 buyer survey, and on par with the thirty two percent in the 2023 buyer survey.

Forty-three percent of buyers surveyed in 2025 described their local market as “overvalued with correction possible,” down from 49% found in the 2024 survey.

“Auction.com buyers are the most confident they’ve been since 2022 that home prices will rise in the coming year,” said Daren Blomquist, Auction.com’s VP of Market Economics.

Nearly two-thirds of Auction.com buyers surveyed (64%) expect their property purchases to increase in 2025, up from sixty percent in 2024 and fifty four percent in 2023.

Among buyer types, institutional investors were the most likely to expect increasing property purchases in 2025 (eighty five percent) compared to seventy one percent for owner-occupant buyers, and sixty two percent for local community developers.

The 2025 Buyer Insights report also shows a shift from in-person auctions to online auctions along with trends in buyer purchase volume, motivation and strategies for working with current occupants.

Owner-Occupant Buyer Share Grows

The share of Auction.com buyers who described themselves as owner-occupants doubled in the 2025 survey to twenty six percent, up from thirteen percent in the 2024 survey.

Sixty-three percent of buyers surveyed described themselves as local community developers, down from seventy eight percent in the 2024 survey. That decrease came mostly as a result of the sharp uptick in owner-occupant buyers.

“Owner-occupant auction buyers are more likely to see their local market as overvalued, and that is likely one of reasons more owner-occupant buyers are turning to distressed property auctions,” said Ali Haralson, Auction.com President.

The share of buyers surveyed who described themselves as institutional investors was just four percent, up slightly from three percent in 2024.

Additional Key Findings

• ninety seven percent of buyers surveyed purchased 10 or fewer properties in 2024
• eighty four percent ranked building generational wealth as a motivation for investing in real estate
• fifty five percent renovate and resell to owner-occupants as their primary investing strategy
• fifty percent rank online or remote bid auctions as top property acquisition method
• ninety one percent offer graceful exit to current occupants of occupied properties
• sixty four percent spend more than $20,000 on renovations and holding costs

Click here for more on Auction.com’s 2025 Buyer Insights report.

The post Home Auction Buyer Optimism Hits Three-Year High  first appeared on The MortgagePoint.

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