Samantha Jenkins
Strong results from Barnard Marcus’s first sale of the year this week confirmed auctions as a primary method of disposal rather than a last-ditch attempt.
Speaking from the auction room at the Cafe Royal, W1, auctioneer Chris Glenn said that some of the prices achieved at its £13.7m auction on Tuesday were “beyond all expectations of both us and the vendors”.
One such lot was a bungalow in Preston Close, Twickenham, offered on behalf of the executor with a £240,000 guide.
“We had 50-odd people over it and more than 20 legal packages sent out, so we knew it was going to sell well,” said Glenn. “Last night my best guess would have been a sale at £300,000, but it went for £315,000.”
A terraced house arranged as three flats in Applegarth Road, Brook Green, W14, that has previously been on the private treaty market at £750,000, was guided at £670,000-£680,000 and sold for £775,000.
“Why use an estate agent?” was Glenn’s rhetorical question. “The auction room is the place to sell.”
And a lack of availability at private treaty makes the auction route popular with purchasers.
“Interest rates are low, money is cheap and the stock market is still in the jitters, so what do people do? They put money into property.”
“Buyers are back in the market place with vigour,” he added. “I’ve not seen a room that was that active or that enthusiastic since May or June of last year.”
Of the 133 lots offered at the auction, 107 sold (81%).
