Agency giant CBRE hosted its first auction of 2012 today, raising £28.8m from the sale of 37 lots.
The success rate closed at 77% at the end of the sale at the Millennium Hotel, W1.
Some 11 big-ticket items sold, but bidding was sporadic with a Barclays bank in Portsmouth, Hampshire, selling for £3m – the lower end of its guide – while a second Barclays in Wimborne, Dorset, sold for £1.2m off a guide of £925,000. The properties yielded at 8.5% and 5.5% respectively.
A multi-let leasehold mixed-use property in Chichester, West Sussex, perceived by bidders as tricky and offered without a reserve, failed to raise a single hand in the room, even at £1. It sold later in day for an undisclosed sum.
Auctioneer Chris Mills said: “There were a few surprises, both positive and negative, some very committed bidders and at the other end no commitment to bid.
“The positives included a let shop and vacant basement in Drury Lane, WC2, producing £28,000 pa. Offered for the receivers and guided at £380,000 to £400,000, it sold for £555,000 – a 5% yield.”
