Commercial investments offering secure long-term income are selling at pre-Covid levels, according to auctioneer Allsop.
The firm raised £51.5m from its 21 July commercial sale, with an 88% success rate. Some 65 of 74 lots found buyers, while 13 were withdrawn.
Combined with its residential auction six days earlier, it means Allsop raised more than £90m in July, with buyers exchanging on 241 assets. The vast majority of properties had only been on the market for a little over two weeks.
The commercial sale saw 18 lots sell for more than £1m, with an average price of £1.85m. Two of those sold prior for more than £3.5m: a restaurant, tattoo studio and offices on Berwick Street, W1 (lot 3); and a high street investment and development opportunity in Barkingside, Essex (lot 10).
Partner and auctioneer George Walker said: “The prices paid on 21 July were mostly at pre-Covid levels, as investors buy for the long-term. One high street asset (lot 26 in Oswestry), with long bank income, sold at a better yield than was achieved from assets in the same portfolio in 2018: at 4.9% against the 2018 average of 5.25%.
“A portfolio of long leases to Kwik Fit sold at an average yield of 4.5 %, reflecting the thirst for income from buyers.
“Despite the shock to the market which Covid-19 brought, we have managed to harness the best digital platform and move the sale process to a new age of efficiency and certainty, with the unconditional auction contract at its centre.”
A listed REIT sold a portfolio of six multilet industrial investments, with lot 32 in Maidstone selling at 6.1%, a little under the £2m guide price.
Allsop’s next online-only commercial property auction will take place on 22 September.
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