A marina is not the sort of lot that you would usually see featured in a property auction but investors turned out in their droves to see it sell at Acuitus’ latest auction in central London. 

Waterside Marina, a residential and retail complex in Brightlingsea, Essex, CO7, is currently receiving £483,430 per year in rent, and was offered at a guide price of £5m. Following fierce competition among bidders, the 7.44 acre property, encompassing a 50-berth marina and 133 homes plus shops, finally sold last week for £6.6m, generating a gross rental yield of 7.32%.

The marina was among 93 lots being offered by Acuitus last Friday in what was the auction house’s largest catalogue so far this year.

A staggering £56.2m worth of property sold at the sale, which took place at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel in Portman Square, central London, under the watchful eye of hundreds of property investors, and achieved a 75% success rate.

Acuitus auctioneer, Richard Auterac (pictured), said: “There is little evidence that our buyers are being influenced by the EU Referendum. Indeed a close analysis of the individual sale results suggests a significant hardening of yields as buyers lock into a steadily improving secondary commercial property market against a background of low returns in the bond market, volatility in the equity market and attractive bank loans for property purchases.”

The strength of buyer demand was further illustrated by the sale of two London retail investments in Highgate and Edgware. A Tesco Express investment at 23-25 Swain’s Lane, Highgate sold for £1.005m at a yield of 3.8% while the Ladbrokes – occupied 112-114 Burnt Oak Broadway achieved £870,000 with a yield of 4.8%.

However, the sale also demonstrated investor demand for other sectors and regional locations. The Ace Business Park in Birmingham – a 119,000 sq ft industrial investment – sold for £3.25m at a yield of 7% while an Odeon cinema investment in Canterbury sold for £2.79m at a yield of 6%.

Auterac added: “Investor confidence across the sectors and throughout the country continues to improve. Today we saw sales that encompassed locations in England, Scotland and Wales. This broadening of demand is being driven in part by the continued flow of new investors into our commercial property market”.

You can view the auction results, including the unsold lots for sale, by clicking here.