Brits are eschewing traditional house-buying habits in favour of online auction services, according to figures published by Disley Communications.

The Express reports that last year saw property sales totalling more than £236 million being carried out through auction sites that let users snap up homes via safe shopping online.

This means that many people are not only choosing to buy houses without going through estate agents but are also deciding to sell their properties to meet the growing demand for this type of service.

Indeed, the already impressive figures from 2018 are not the only thing worth shouting about, as the first half of 2019 has seen online home auction sales rise by 46 per cent year on year.

It is getting to the point that the sites which offer property auctions via the web are issuing sales statements on a weekly basis, revealing the extent to which volumes have grown in recent months.

One of the reasons that this approach is more popular than traditional alternatives is that it is much quicker to auction a house online than sell it with an estate agent. On average it will take two weeks for a property to sell via auction, whereas the national average for traditional sales methods is almost two months.

Furthermore, the properties that do go up for auction are garnering plenty of interest, with many regularly receiving bids from more than 100 interested parties. This means that homeowners who decide to sell at an online auction will be getting a good price for their property, while buyers could be in with the chance of bagging a bargain.

Clearly, the online auction-based approach will not be for everyone, but it does show that this market is evolving thanks to the power of the internet.