The proportion of commercial properties sold at auction has dipped for the first time in two years.
Research from Essential Information Group shows that the rolling annual success rates for commercial sales fell from 76.5% to 75.6% after a weak October
in which commercial success rates fell by 3.4 percentage points compared with the same month a year earlier.
It is the first time the rolling annual success rate for commercial sales has fallen since November 2012, when it dipped by 0.3%.
Commercial success rates – often considered a bellwether for the wider commercial property market – have followed the residential market.
Year-on-year residential auction success rates showed a significant fall in June this year – the first registered since 2010.
However, while commercial success rates have dipped slightly, total sales remain up on last year.
The total volume of commercial property sold at auction in October was £200m, a rise from £194.8m in October last year.
Acuitus auctioneer Richard Auterac said: “These figures are surprising but overall they are of small significance.”
He pointed to increased sales volumes and increasing lot sizes as a sign of the market remaining in good health.
Commercial sales in 2014 now stand at £1.3bn, up from £1.1bn last year.
Regional rates
The North East saw the biggest drop in commercial success rates, falling by 15.2 percentage points to 64.6%, followed by East Anglia, where sales fell by 14.8 pps to 77.2%.
The north-west Home Counties and Northern Ireland were the only areas that improved on 2013’s results, rising by 9.7pps to 90.6% and 1.4pps to 45% respectively.
