Against a backdrop of unprecedented uncertainty our 20th October auction saw a packed room, record results and over £3,500,000 raised.
An hour before the auction commenced and with the room starting to fill, it was announced on the mobile news alerts that Liz Truss had formally resigned as Prime Minister. Ordinarily this would have been catastrophic and killed all confidence in the room, but after such a roller-coaster couple of weeks where markets collapsed and quickly recovered, it came as perhaps a relief to those investors in the room that markets would at least settle over coming months with the prospect of a new Prime Minister at the helm. And thankfully, this reflected in both the turnout, peoples confidence and the bidding.
Those lot which were well guided and sensibly reserved favoured the best, with some lots selling well over their reserves. Lot 1 was a prime example, a pair of semi-derelict cottages in Holton le Moor in Lincolnshire on a large plot, which had a sensible Guide of £100,000+ and generated good levels of interest. Competitive bidding in the room spurred on the eventual sale price of £174,000, higher than the reserve set by the client who was totally in tune with the market sentiment (cautious, yet confident).
A handful of lots fell just shy of their reserves but thankfully deals were agreed straight after the auction, either at reserve, slightly higher or slightly below, but with an immediate exchange of contracts on auction conditions and with completions typically 4 weeks thereafter.
The highlight of the auction was by far the sale of the former Chinese Association at the junction of Mansfield Road and Huntingdon Street in Nottingham City Centre, guided at £85,000+ The building had sat empty for many years (it was believed 15 years) and was in such a poor state with pigeon infestation that people were not allowed to view internally on health and safety grounds. Despite this people literally flocked (forgive the pun) to bid on this rare opportunity to acquire a conversion opportunity (most probably to student flats given its proximity to Trent University) and from its Guide Price of £85,000+ it eventually sold for a whopping £341,000 to a round of applause for the highly determined buyer!
Land remained in high demand and we offered various plots on behalf of national clients such as the Co-op and Saint Modwin Group at low guide prices, but all of which sold in the room for good money (Stoughton land Guided at £15,000 made an impressive £70,000 in the room).
Property was being offered from across the UK and again, we were selling in Wales, a substantial former Safeway Supermarket selling at the Blackwood Shopping Centre. We also sold a former working mens club in Seaham, Sunderland for £152,000 off a Guide Price of £75,000+ which has been purchased by investors seeking income.
Such locations offer very good value for money and are appealing to both local and national investors who are keen to secure high yielding assets.
We also faired well with disposing of retail investments which continue to appeal to investors for their SIPPS. Newark on Trent yet again proved popular with the sale of a former nail bar shop near Morrison selling prior to auction to an investor keen to secure a high yielding investment in their SIPP. Equally, we sold 3 freehold shops just off the Newark Market Place to investors placing the property in their SIPP based on the circa 10% yield profiles.
We were therefore delighted with the outcome of the sale and remain confident that with a new Prime Minister in place (Rishi Sunak has just been announced), that Markets will at least become settled whilst the Government work on a strategy to ease our way out of these uncertain times.
Entries are now coming in for our next auction on 8th December (the most active auction of the whole year as people secure their projects for the new year. So if you’re thinking of selling then now is most definitely the best time to enter your property into our auction!)
