Strong interest in the office sector helped Acuitus raise £48.5m at its latest sale.
Of the 59 lots offered, 90% sold – the same success rate the auction house has reported for its past two sales.
Five lots sold for more than £2m, four of which were offices. The office sector accounted for more than half of the money invested at the sale.
An empty 43,468 sq ft office building in York with permitted development rights for residential conversion sold for £6m.
United House was formerly occupied by the Crown Prosecution Service and has permission for as many as 102 homes.
Auctioneer Richard Auterac said: “There is now serious interest in the regional office sector and it is the subject of concerted buying.”
Retail has tended to dominate commercial auction rooms, although leisure properties have risen to become the second-biggest asset group, according to the most recent Commercial Property Auction Data report (4 July, p49).
Auterac added: “As with United House, this [growth of office-to-resi conversion] is being fuelled partly by the scope for residential development, but experienced investors are also seeing that they can buy income-producing properties at good entry yields and also have the prospect of further upside through asset management.”
Another York office building, Saxby House, which is let to Siemens until 2022 with a tenant break in 18 months, sold for £3.5m, achieving a yield of 8.5% and a capital value of £177 per sq ft.
Other sales included an Odeon cinema in Banbury Cross, Oxfordshire, which went for £2.2m – a yield of 5.5% – and Superdrug in Romsey, Hampshire, that sold for £1.4m – a yield of 5.1%.
Auterac said: “There is an exceptional level of demand in the auction room and that offers sellers great opportunities.”
The auction was held on 9 July at the Radisson Blu Portman hotel, W1.
