Allsop has raised £34.9m at its opening commercial auction of the year, selling 70 out of 83 lots offered – a success rate of 85%.
A total of 62 lots were sold in the room at the Park Lane Hotel, W1, on Tuesday, and six lots were sold prior. A further £2m of lots were sold in the hours after the sale.
Activity at the auction was driven by demand for banking assets, with all nine that were offered selling, including a block let to Natwest for 25 years in Maida Vale, W9, It sold to a private investor for £880,000 – a 3.5% net yield. Two other bank-let assets sold at yields of 4.1%.
Multilet retail and residential assets were also in demand, with a parade of shops on Finchley High Road, N12, selling for £2.6m – a 6.88% yield. The parade of five shops, with flats above, was sold to a local buyer following 20 years of private ownership.
A further eight properties broke the £1m barrier, including a nursery in Farnborough, Hampshire, which was sold via an internet bid to a Hong Kong investor.
Auctioneer George Walker said demand had improved since the December sale, particularly for prime assets that could generate a reliable income stream.
chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
