Market Intelligence
Historics and H&H: A Black Friday Decided by Bidders
Car auctions by Historics and H&H show a market downturn, with lower turnovers despite higher sales rates. Special models like a Ferrari F430 and Porsche 924 Turbo achieved record prices, but average values dropped significantly.
Historics at Brooklands on November 23rd and H&H in Buxton on November 27th, during a reflective or, better, slightly declining market period, repositioned themselves within their traditional operational area, settling for results below expectations, and the reason is quickly explained: as long as the sector was growing, it was possible to accept reserves above market value in the hope that someone would see more value than there was (even from a future perspective), but today, anyone buying a car thinks much more before raising the paddle. Either the price is correct, or I wait for the next sale, because at this stage, the estimate will not rise.
With this premise, we approach the important data: 150 cars offered by Historics (103 sold) and 126 by H&H (76 successes), equating to 68.67% and 60.32%, respectively. So far, these numbers would even be better than last year (they closed at 56.7% and 55%), but the explanation comes in terms of value. Historics’ £4,112,350 turnover in 2023 became £2,583,811, while H&H’s £1,205,489 turned into £854,393 within 12 months—one of the least profitable sales for the English house since COVID. All of this while the number of cars sold increased in both cases (as did the number of no-reserve vehicles), and therefore, average prices fell by 28% for H&H and 46% for Historics, dropping from £46,000 to £25,000.
