Pattinson’s latest North East auction saw unusually high interest in land sales and a pick-up in bank-funded sales, as it raised £4.5m.
Of 84 properties offered, 51 sold in the room – a success rate of 61%.
Land sales were particularly hotly contested, with one 1.3-acre plot on Heaton Terrace, Byker selling for £225,000 off a guide price of £75,000.
The Newcastle city council-owned land – which formerly housed industrial workshops – was bought by an individual investor after strong bidding. It is expected to be redeveloped.
Head of auctions Justin Beckwith said such lots were attracting unusually strong prices, and that while foreign investors were returning, banks had begun increasing their lending to a more concentrated group of trusted UK buyers.
“The banks’ criteria are quite rigid, but the people that can take advantage of them, or have money, are looking to invest while there isn’t the competition from other buyers,” he said.
The most expensive lot was a fully-let seven-bedroom terraced student house in Jesmond, Tyne and Wear, which sold for £310,000 off a guide of £280,000 – a 15% yield.
chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
A Newcastle library, the Brinkburn Centre on Brinkburn Street, also sold for almost double the guide of £120,000, eventually fetching £236,000. Newcastle city council sold the vacant property to a private individual buyer.
The sale took place at Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club in Tyne and Wear.
