Fund manager Principal Real Estate Europe raised more than £3m through its second online commercial property auction with Allsop this week.
Fifteen of 17 lots, all from the Local Shopping REIT portfolio, found buyers on 17 September, a 94% success rate. One property was withdrawn and just one attracted no bids.
Allsop said that almost 30% of all buyers were new to purchasing an asset at auction. Some 53% of buyers had previously purchased a commercial asset with Allsop and 20% had previously purchased a residential asset with the firm.
Liverpool shop parade
The sale included Allsop’s largest price achieved at online auction so far, a local shopping parade of eight shops and nine flats in Liverpool that sold for £700,000. It was offered with a “reserve not to exceed” £500,000 and attracted 43 bids as three parties battled it out over an hour and forty minutes.
The investment produces £58,000 with four of the flats and three of the shops standing vacant.
A freehold shop and residential ground rent in central Brighton (pictured) received 50 bids – the highest number recorded on the day – before selling for £377,000. It produces £27,500 pa.
Analysis on the day also revealed that 67% of the buyers purchased a property outside the region they are based in.
Fifty-six bidders were approved to bid prior to the sale and 37 of them went on to place bids. A total of 330 bids were placed in total, an average of 22 per lot. Bidding went up by pre-set increments ranging from £1,000 to £5,000 depending on the asset.
Strong demand
Patrick Kerr, partner, commercial auction at Allsop, said: “Investors have shown that after the summer period, in what was our second commercial online auction, strong demand remains for well-priced properties presenting good asset management opportunities.
“We saw some ferocious bidding between three separate parties for a mixed-use parade in Liverpool which after having a reserve not to exceed price disclosed as £500,000, sold for £700,000.
“This was the largest lot yet sold by Allsop via the online auction platform and demonstrated that investors were not deterred from purchasing larger lots online.”
The sale follows Allsop’s first online commercial auction in April, when it sold six lots and raised just over £1m.
To send feedback, e-mail julia.cahill@egi.co.uk or tweet @EGJuliaC or @estatesgazette
