ArtTactic has published a resale study of London's October 2026 evening auctions, tracking 39 artworks that had previously changed hands and reappeared at Christie's, Sotheby's or Phillips. By comparing each work's earlier price with its October result, the analysts could separate genuine gains from the noise of a single night's bidding, giving a clearer picture of how the secondary market actually treated sellers than headline totals alone.

The headline finding is upbeat for patient owners: nearly nine in ten of the repeat sales produced a positive return. The advantage went to works held over longer stretches, which the study presents as evidence that the resale market rewards holding on rather than flipping. That pattern held even though some short-term resales also posted strong gains, a reminder that quick turnarounds can pay off but do so far less reliably.

By category, Modern and Post-War art delivered the strongest returns in the sample, while Christie's led the three houses on annualised performance, a measure that adjusts returns for how long each work was held. The breakdown is presented through several tables covering returns against holding period, the best and worst performers by annual return, works that failed to sell, and pieces that have now been resold more than once, allowing readers to see where the strength was concentrated and where it ran out.

Taken together, the study reads as a vote of confidence in the top end of the London market at a moment when buyers have been cautious. Rather than pointing to speculative heat, ArtTactic's numbers suggest that well-chosen works bought years ago and kept have mostly grown in value, while the bought-in and losing lots show the limits of that comfort. For collectors weighing whether to consign, the message is that time in the market, not timing, did most of the work this October.