Auction results strong

The continued strength of the residential auction market was highlighted by one London based sale last week.

Allsop's Residential auction team brought its total for 2011 to £128m last week with a marathon single day sale which raised £45m from the sale of 269 lots. The 84% success rate contrasts with an industry average of 67% (Source: EiG).

"Allsop has been weathering the storm well" said auctioneer, Gary Murphy. "We had a particularly strong catalogue this time and that was recognised by our market. The Park Lane Hotel is a large venue yet it was full to capacity from the start."

The sale offered a broad mix of property types and values from multi million pound stock in Central and Greater London to small sites and ground rents. The highest price paid on the day was for Sutherland Street, Pimlico, London SW1, a freehold building arranged as six flats. It achieved £2.19m from a guide of £1.8m - £1.9m.

The morning session included a selection of 23 regulated tenancy investments. 22 sold establishing an average yield from the sale of 4.1% (March sale 4.6% and February sale 4.2%).

"Although this market is dominated by four corporates, it's interesting to note that new faces emerge at almost every sale" said Murphy.

The sale concluded with a separate evening session of ground rent investments ranging from reversionary houses to large apartment blocks.

"The ground rent market is highly specialised" he said. "Investors tend to be price focussed and pretty disciplined in the room. Demand remains keen. The more competitive investors at the sale quickly identified themselves and fought each other for the 40 lots on offer. It was a fast paced session at 90 seconds a lot, almost twice the speed of the main sale."

Allsop is now planning its July sale and expects to build a substantial pre-summer recess catalogue off the back of its recent successes.

"The residential auction market is the most active in the property sector currently" said Murphy. "There's nothing for which competition can't be created through imaginative marketing and market driven pricing. It's such an efficient route to disposal."

Allsop's Residential auction team brought its total for 2011 to £128m last week with a marathon single day sale which raised £45m from the sale of 269 lots. The 84% success rate contrasts with an industry average of 67% (Source: EiG).

"Allsop has been weathering the storm well" said auctioneer, Gary Murphy. "We had a particularly strong catalogue this time and that was recognised by our market. The Park Lane Hotel is a large venue yet it was full to capacity from the start."

The sale offered a broad mix of property types and values from multi million pound stock in Central and Greater London to small sites and ground rents. The highest price paid on the day was for Sutherland Street, Pimlico, London SW1, a freehold building arranged as six flats. It achieved £2.19m from a guide of £1.8m - £1.9m.

The morning session included a selection of 23 regulated tenancy investments. 22 sold establishing an average yield from the sale of 4.1% (March sale 4.6% and February sale 4.2%).

"Although this market is dominated by four corporates, it's interesting to note that new faces emerge at almost every sale" said Murphy.

The sale concluded with a separate evening session of ground rent investments ranging from reversionary houses to large apartment blocks.

"The ground rent market is highly specialised" he said. "Investors tend to be price focussed and pretty disciplined in the room. Demand remains keen. The more competitive investors at the sale quickly identified themselves and fought each other for the 40 lots on offer. It was a fast paced session at 90 seconds a lot, almost twice the speed of the main sale."

Allsop is now planning its July sale and expects to build a substantial pre-summer recess catalogue off the back of its recent successes.

"The residential auction market is the most active in the property sector currently" said Murphy. "There's nothing for which competition can't be created through imaginative marketing and market driven pricing. It's such an efficient route to disposal."

Yields at auction continued to be attractive for many professional investors with the average gross yield of 8.62% for the 35 lots sold with an average lot size of £206,779.

The next auction is to be held on the 12th and 14th July at the Park Lane Hotel Piccadilly, London.

Click here to view the full auction results.



Landlord insurance - results