Allsop raised its highest residential total in more than a year last week, selling £53.6m of stock, as the “mini boom” in the sector continues.
The sale is also the largest online UK property sale so far recorded by auctions data specialist Essential Information Group.
The 17 September online sale saw Allsop sell 179 of 215 lots offered, an 83% success rate. More than 80 lots were withdrawn prior from the bumper catalogue.
The total is Allsop’s highest since its May 2019 in-room auction, which raised £66m, and well ahead of its September 2019 total of £41m.
A total of 4,872 online bids were placed on the day, with 700 approved registered bidders. That brings the number of interested parties approved for bidding across Allsop’s four residential auctions since lockdown to 2,683.
Auctioneer Gary Murphy said: “This is an exceptional result, which appears to be defying the pandemic.
“Since lockdown was eased, we have seen improved activity at our auctions. In particular, the changes to the stamp duty exemption limit have created a new sweet spot in the market. It’s hard to say how long this mini-boom will last, but for as long as it does, it looks to be a healthy environment for sellers. We expect our next auction to be equally busy.”
The largest lot of the day was a £1.5m stucco-faced mid-terrace building on Denmark Terrace in Brighton (lot 33). With six flats let on assured shorthold tenancies, it produces £71,760 per annum, a 4.49% yield.
A housing association sale in Cricklewood, NW2 (lot 6), achieved £1.35m. The vacant freehold with outdoor space is arranged as three flats.
Pencoed Castle near Newport, Wales, (lot 121), offered with mainly vacant possession, sold for £1.11m.
A vacant 1.26-acre freehold site in St Helens (lot 220), sold on behalf of National Grid, attracted the highest number of bids at 254, and eventually sold for £361,000.
A development site in Balham, SW12, (lot 25), guided at £3.2m did not sell, but discussions are ongoing with a potential buyer.
The highest number of registered bidders for a single lot was 22. Between them, they placed 171 bids for lot 205, a pair of freehold bungalows in Wolverhampton previously used as care homes, which sold for £704,000.
Allsop has now sold £212.6m of residential lots this year. Its next residential auction will be on 29 October.
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