Although prices in London may need adjusting, the auction market in Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham is still strong, claims Countrywide Property Auctions.
Speaking after the firm’s latest road show of four auctions, auctioneer Mark Tanton said it was perhaps another example of the North-South divide.
“The North has always been catching up with the South, so maybe prices up North will slow down later,” he said. “The North and the Midlands are holding up very well and seeing good sales and good prices, so long as clients are realistic.”
At the Manchester auction the former home of artist LS Lowry sold prior for “well above £100,000”, having been guided at £95,000-plus. It had been offered at Countrywide’s London auction in July with a guide of £200,000 but failed to sell.
Over the firm’s four sales, 97 of the 130 lots were sold (75%), raising more than £4.7m.
● A BBC TV crew was on hand to record the £346,000 sale of Manchester city council’s most expensive council house at Pugh & Co’s £2.8m auction at Manchester Airport. The Grade II-listed, seven-bedroom house with outbuildings and stable block at Sharston was one of 47 lots to sell out of the 59 lots offered (80%).
