"At the end of the day, property is still selling with serious bidders and buyers taking part in livestream sales"
At its most recent sale (Wednesday 28 June 2023), Auction House London revealed that 83% of the 193 lots offered were sold, raising £25,255,500 despite pressure on buyers facing rising interest rates.
Auctioneer and Director of Auction House London, Andrew Binstock said: “As expected, with increasing interest rates we had about half the number of bidders taking part compared to our previous auction. There’s a lot of caution in the market at the moment but serious buyers are taking on property and yet again we sold more Lots at above £1m this time around.”
One of those was a Grade II listed former office with a planning application submitted to convert it back to a five-bedroom home on City Road, Angel, London. The property which is in a highly sought-after area was guided at £1.1m before selling for £1.21m.
Another lot which raised plenty of interest was a property in Ealing which is converted currently into four self-contained flats. Lot 32 in Mount Park Crescent was guided at £1.4m before the hammer came down at £1.5m
Andrew adds: “There was loads and loads of action on large numbers of lots with many bidding wars continuing for more than ten minutes each time. But it’s the same reasoning; the properties and Lots which are attractive because they are priced well to sell, still make the grade.”
One highlight which proved this point was Lot 1, a Victorian three-bedroom terrace in Plaistow, east London with a tenant in place. It was guided at £250,000 and sold for £384,000.
Andrew concludes: “Bidder numbers are undoubtedly down and instead of ten people fighting over a Lot – it might mean there are five, and that was the overriding theme of our June auction. But at the end of the day, property is still selling with serious bidders and buyers taking part in livestream sales.
“In terms of what we raised and the amount we sold, we are remaining on track and this auction was consistent with our other sales this year despite challenging times.”
