May auction results

27th May 2011

The Acuitus commercial property auction on May 26 demonstrated the breadth of demand among investors as £28.33m was raised from the sale of 34 lots reflecting a sale rate of 86%.

Acuitus auctioneer, Richard Auterac, commented: “This was a strong performance with a quarter of the lots sold achieving more than £1m, and 14 of the sales reflecting yields of less than 7%.

“It’s still a tough and precise market but there is increased alignment between the expectations of buyers and sellers. You have to work very closely with the potential buyers before the auction and have a large ‘black book’ of names built up over time. Simply sticking a property in a catalogue and hoping for the best doesn’t work.

“What is encouraging – especially from the perspective of the banks looking to reduce and realign their loan books – is that property companies and private buyers are actively seeking buying opportunities right across all property sectors and from a few hundred thousand pounds to several million.”

May auction highlights:

  • The 2,900-sq ft 69 King William Street, EC4, represented a rare opportunity to buy a City of London freehold and it sold for £1.11m at a yield of 6%
  • Arundell House, a 5,845-sq ft medical/office investment in Windsor sold for £1.175m at a yield of 6.9%

 

  • Top price achieved in the sale was £2.585m for a 17,000-sq ft office building in Uxbridge
  • A bank investment in Pudsey, Yorkshire let to HSBC sold for £440,000 at a yield of 5.8%
  • An unbroken parade of six shops in Upminster, Essex, with development potential sold for £2.25m at a yield of 6%
  • Four ground rent investments in Middlefield Industrial Estate in Sandy sold for a total of £561,000 and maintained Acuitus’s 100% record of selling GRIs at this Bedfordshire estate during the past two years
  • A mixed portfolio of investments entered into the auction by one client all sold for a total of more than £11m
  • Good demand for industrial lots with freehold units in Cambridgeshire and Kent selling for £1.13m and £515,000 respectively reflecting yields of around 7%

Our next auction will take place on July 7th at The Millennium Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London, W1.