Acuitus reports strong demand as latest commercial auction achieves £19m

Acuitus’s latest commercial auction has raised more than £19m. Notable lots included a gastro pub near Sandbanks in Poole, Dorset, which sold for £2.2m at a yield of 5.13%. The Anchorage is currently let to Greene King on a new 20-year lease running from September 2022 without break at a rent of £120,000 pa. There was also strong demand for a vacant 10,600 sq ft office building in Leatherhead, Surrey, which sold for £1.74m. Acuitus director Charlie Powter said: “We have read a lot recently about the lack of interest in offices. This is not the case in the private investor market where there is demand for well-appointed modern accommodation with good transport links. In this particular case there was also demand from residential developers who were considering the property’s potential for conversion through permitted development rights”. In-town shopping centres also appeared to be attracting trend-defying interest, with the 70,469 sq ft Castle Place Shopping Centre in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, attracting more than 100 expressions of interest before selling prior to auction for around three times its guide price of £400,000. Acuitus chair Richard Auterac said: “As this sale showed, buyers are more confident in the long-term prospects for assets across all the property sectors, believing a pricing inflection point has been reached. Notwithstanding the latest Bank of England interest rate rise, this positive belief led to the strongest buyer interest across the board since last autumn.” Other lots included a five-storey mixed-use investment in Parsons Green, SW6, sold for £1.56m at a yield of 4.45%; and a 13,656 sq ft trade counter investment close to the centre of Wigan, sold for £1.21m at a yield of 7%. The next Acuitus auction will take place on 13 July. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews