Sales rates at Allsop slipped to 77% at its latest residential sale as stamp duty changes started to have an effect on demand.
Out of 246 lots offered, 12 sold prior to the auction and 168 sold in the room, resulting in a sales total of £48.6m.
That compares with a 91% success rate and £57.8m total achieved on the same number of lots in July. However, Allsop residential partner Gary Murphy said that he expected the sales rate to rise as many September lots were in negotiation post-sale.
He added: “There’s no doubt that recent changes to the Stamp Duty Land Tax rules have had a cooling effect on the £1m-plus market, with central and greater London taking the bigger hits.”
The two highest-value lots from the September sale failed to hit their reserve prices. They included a freehold block of 30 flats in Palmers Green, N13, guided at £5.5m and producing an income of £300,000 pa.
A freehold three-bedroom mews house in Chelsea, SW1, with lapsed planning permission for a two-storey basement extension and guided at £3.5m also failed to sell in the room.
However, buyers are still
chasing good locations offering value, Murphy said. A terrace in Ladbroke Grove, W10, arranged as a self-contained flat and eight additional rooms, sold for £2.4m.
Regulated tenancy investments sold well, said Murphy, with a flat in Maida Vale, W9, let at £11,778 pa to a regulated tenant, selling for £1m.
The sale took place on 17 September at The Cumberland, W1.
