Acuitus’s decision to add a September sale to its calendar was rewarded with a £24.4m total and a 95% success rate last week.
More than a quarter of the lots which sold achieved prices of more than £1m.
The live-streamed auction on 24 September broke with the tradition of waiting until October to start the sale season.
Acuitus chairman Richard Auterac said: “We added this extra auction to our 2020 schedule to meet the demands of our clients to realise capital.
“Implementation of their strategies had been largely put on hold in the run up to the 2019 election and during the subsequent Covid crisis. Our pre-summer auctions had revealed growing buying momentum from high-net-worth investors who are looking for opportunities to achieve a stable return superior to the returns available on negative gilt yields and volatile equities.
“Property company demand has remained resilient for active management situations, especially in the light of the recent changes in the use classes order.”
The high success rate was an improvement on the 77% achieved at the larger Allsop commercial sale the previous day, when the government’s new Covid-19 guidance was issued. Sixteen lots were withdrawn prior to the Acuitus auction.
The highest price in the sale was the £2.125m achieved by a freehold retail and residential investment in Golders Green, NW11 (lot 10). Currently producing £42,500 pa and with four newly developed flats on the upper floors, the property sold at a net initial yield of 1.8%.
A freehold commercial and residential investment in Mill Hill, NW7 (lot 5), let as a chemists with flats above, sold for £1.231m at a yield of 4.6%. A similar asset at 46-50 Coombe Lane in Raynes Park, SW20 (lot 6) – with an income of £122,700 – sold for £1.775m at a yield of 6.5%.
The auction again demonstrated investor confidence in the long-term prospects for high street properties – whether they remain in their current use or are ultimately repurposed.
A Paperchase shop in North Street, Chichester (lot 9) let on a new five-year lease sold for £980,000, and a shop and upper parts in Petty Cury, Cambridge (lot 27) sold for £1.1m. A Wetherspoons pub with vacant offices above on St Thomas Street in Weymouth (lot 16), offered on behalf of Receivers, sold for £1.21m at a yield of 6.25%.
Investment in Scotland was strong, with a prominent site in Ayr town centre (lot 21) selling for £1.75m, while eight M&Co stores all found buyers.
Auterac said: “As our property sectors are gradually reshaped by the impact of the pandemic and trends that were already under way prior to lockdown, there are a growing number of opportunities for experienced investors and asset managers.
“It’s a fluid market with investors moving into and out of the market and the property sectors. One pricing model doesn’t fit all and there has to be an expert and nuanced approach to pricing if a seller is to achieve a successful result. Up-to-the-minute market knowledge is more important today than ever.
“Given the current income and future potential that many of these assets offer, we expect concerted buying to continue through to the year-end. This will present substantial opportunities to sellers who are looking to exit their holdings.”
The next Acuitus auction will take place on 28 October.
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