Receivership lots, surplus banks and local government stock found eager buyers at Lambert Smith Hampton’s sale this week, but refurbished mixed-use high street lots and vacant shops struggled to sell.
LSH sold 62% of its catalogue, its lowest success rate since 2011. The firm typically reports 80%-plus rates.
The total raised was £4.7m.
“The success rate was lower than we are currently used to, but the room was busy and telephone bids were at their normal level,” said LSH head of auctions Oliver Childs.
A quarter of lots went to telephone buyers. Sold lots also performed well against guides, with an average difference of 16%.
Three former NatWest branches performed well: a branch in Henfield, West Sussex, sold for £290,000 against a guide of £225,000; one in Benfleet, Essex, sold for £505,000 against a £450,000 guide; and one in Camvey Island, Essex, sold for £290,000 against a £200,000 guide.
“That’s where people perceive opportunity. It’s not a refurbished property ready to go. Someone has to spend money and decide what best suits the market for them,” said Childs.
He said the market was seeing a polarisation between lots like this, for which buyers were prepared to dig deep, and stock where the opportunity had already been taken and buyers were concerned about void risk.
A a refurbished vacant mixed-use high street property in Grays, Essex, offered by a private propco, for example, failed to sell. Bidding for the restaurant and four flats above reached £1.24m and it is available at £1.35m.
“Margins are being squeezed for property companies looking to make a profit on refurbished properties,” said Childs. “Sometimes you have to go through the experience of not selling an asset to prove where the market is for that asset.”
Meanwhile, retail clients are finding that buyers are now less willing to take on the risk of vacant high street stores than they were 12 months ago, he added.
However, outdoor advertising company JC Deceaux booked a number of successes, including selling a 282 sq ft sliver of land in Enfield, Middlesex, for £91,000.
The sale took place on 9 July at Le Meridien Piccadilly Hotel, W1.
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