Regional investors were consistently outbid by London-based dealers at Barnard Marcus’ mixed residential and commercial sale, which raised £6.1m.
Only one in three telephone bidders from out of town were successful in snapping up property, according to auctioneer Chris Glenn.
“Prices for buildings inside the m25 are still very keen, and London investors are looking for value further afield,” said Glenn.
“We think this underlines the case for selling regional property in the capital’s auction rooms.”
Overall the 193-lot sale scored a 73% success rate, with residential property in the capital’s most desirable areas attracting the most interest on the day.
An unmodernised three-storey house in West Kensington, W14, with an estimated value, once modernised, of £230,000, went for an astonishing £203,000. Four or five tenacious bidders pushed the price way beyond the guide of £135,000.
Glenn was also pleased with the sale of the former schoolkeeper’s house at Rosaline Road, SW6. Some 70 people had looked over the vacant building, which was guided at £110,000. It was sold on behalf of Hammersmith & Fulham council for £158,000.
But a three-floor terraced house in Fulham, SW6, made the best price of the day. The highest offer prior to auction had been £260,000, but it went in the room for £320,000.
Mystery surrounded the purchaser of a three-bedroomed semi in Hammersmith, W6, which was knocked down for £208,000 – almost £30,000 more than the guide. Almost as soon as the hammer fell the winning bidder disappeared from the room and could not be traced. The property was re-offered and at the second attempt was snapped up by one of the disappointed underbidders – an owner-occupier – for £218,000.
But there was no happy ending for a five-bedroom semi in Willesden Green, NW2, which failed to find a buyer at a reserve of £145,000.
