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 350 Auction.com buyers, the survey also found that 26% 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 (33%) surveyed said they expect home prices in their local market to decline in 2025, down from 40% in the 2024 buyer survey, and on par with the 32% 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 60% in 2024 and 54% in 2023.
Among buyer types, institutional investors were the most likely to expect increasing property purchases in 2025 (85%) compared to 71% for owner-occupant buyers, and 62% 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 26%, up from 13% in the 2024 survey.
Sixty-three percent of buyers surveyed described themselves as local community developers, down from 78% 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 4%, up slightly from 3% in 2024.
Additional Key Findings
- 97% of buyers surveyed purchased 10 or fewer properties in 2024
- 84% ranked building generational wealth as a motivation for investing in real estate
- 55% renovate and resell to owner-occupants as their primary investing strategy
- 50% rank online or remote bid auctions as top property acquisition method
- 91% offer graceful exit to current occupants of occupied properties
- 64% spend more than $20,000 on renovations and holding costs
Click here for more on Auction.com’s 2025 Buyer Insights report.
