It was a tough start to the year for Acuitus, which achieved just a 53% success rate at its 14 February sale.
The sale achieved a total of £15.3m, with 21 lots selling. The auctioneer’s first sale of 2018 had raised £31.2m from 51 lots, an 85% success rate.
But despite the drop in activity in the room, those properties that did sell, sold well – including five lots for more than £1m.
Those lots included a Vodafone shop on Holloway Road, N7, let to the mobile phone operator until 2026 at an annual rent of £53,500, which sold for just over £1.1m – a 4.4% yield – and a Wyevale Garden Centre investment in Ferndown, Dorset, which sold for more than its guide price, with the hammer coming down at £1.85m – a 6.6% yield.
Drive-thru restaurants and coffee outlets remain popular with investors. A Starbucks drive-thru (pictured) in Portsmouth, Hampshire, which adjoins Oceans Retail Park and is let to a franchisee until 2038 with no breaks and RPI-linked rent reviews, sold for just over £1.4m – a yield of 6.5%.
Acuitus said there was also good demand in the room for industrial assets, with a Nationwide car repair centre in Mossley, Greater Manchester, let until 2023 and currently producing an annual income of £32,000, selling for £450,000, a yield of 6.8%.
Auctioneer Richard Auterac said: “It’s a very precise market and – when the asset and investor align – demand is good and pricing is strong. Demand is not confined to a particular property type or location, as evidenced by the assets we sold in this auction.
“This gives us confidence for 2019 as we have shown that there is a widespread pool of investors that we can access though our channels.”
The next Acuitus auction takes place at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, W1, on 4 April.
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