Next auction Thursday 25th April 2.30PM
A strong end to the year as December auction raises £3,648,700 (81%)

A strong end to the year as december auction raises £3,648,700 (81%)

22 December 2020



December is traditionally the busiest sale in the auction calendar as investors and trade buyers look to secure projects for the new year.

Despite the turbulent events surrounding COVID-19 the property market has remained extremely resilient and if anything has rallied with record prices being achieved.

Our auctions are being conducted behind closed with remote bidding only by either telephone, proxy or on-line.

This auction saw unprecedented levels of bidders lined up on each of the lots and bidding at times resembled the trading floor of the Stock Exchange as staff frantically thrust their catalogues in the air and shouted out telephone bids.

The star lot of the day was a freehold industrial unit offered For Sale by Nottingham City Council which had 30 bidders lined up to try and secure what is an extremely rare opportunity in the Nottingham market.

After ten or so minutes of spirited bidding the lot climbed from its original Guide of £180,000 to a record price and the hammer falling to a local buyer at £390,000.

We offered a number of lots on behalf of Nottingham City Council raising over £1m in sales on the day, much to their delight.

Paul Giles, Head Auctioneer commented “It’s clear that people are frustrated by the poor levels of interest offered by the bank and the risk that its value could easily be eroded as interest rates remain at an all time low.  High levels of inflation and the fact that most easy access accounts only offer up to 0.6% has meant that people are reverting to other types of investment products.

Most people understand bricks and mortar as an investment which offers both stability and much higher rates of return, typically between 5 & 10% making it a much more attractive proposition to making their money work harder.

The biggest deterrent for property investors has been the very slow rate of liquidity, with Private Treaty sales notoriously slow, costly and highly risky.

It is understandable why so many people are being drawn to Auctions as they offer both speed of sale and certainty with an immediate exchange of contracts on the fall of the hammer and completion typically 4 to 8 weeks thereafter allowing plenty of time to secure funding if required.

With legal packs available for easy downloading off phones and tablets, buyers are highly informed and are happy to speculate a little time and effort to be part of the bidding process knowing that if they are unsuccessful, not a significant amount of time or money has been lost.

Equally, we are finding that buyers are happy to pay stronger prices to reflect the certainty of securing an immediate purchase, buying projects and work in uncertain times being one of the main attractions.

We are now taking entries for our 18th February 2021 auction and anticipate market conditions to remain buoyant despite the prospects of a further lockdown.