Harman Healy was in full swing with its July residential auction when the new wave of terror threats to London’s transport system began to affect attendance.
Associate director Nick McLachlan said news began to filter into the room about halfway through the sale. And numbers did then begin to thin out, he said.
“People were there from all over the country and they wanted to get home,” he explained.
The auction at Kensington Town Hall achieved proceeds of just over £4.4m, which represented a 50% success level. But McLachlan said the firm hoped to improve its result with a number of post-auction exchanges.
Before events unfolded, bidding was yielding some strong results. And, said McLachlan, most of the first 15 lots of the day that sold went for well above their guide prices.
“They were achieving very good results – especially some of those fresh to the market,” he explained.
The first lot of the day – a property being sold by Haringey council in Whitley Road, N17 – was guided at £210,000 and sold under the hammer for £286,000.
And a property in Geldeston Road, E5 produced another strong result. McLachlan said the client opted to sell at the last minute, despite the fact that squatters were still in residence. Guided at £200,000, it went on to make £256,000.
