Allsop raises £115m as strong showing from investors ‘exceeds expectations’

Allsop raised more than £115m at its commercial auction held in central London this week, which was the most sold in a single day by the auction house in a decade. 

A total of 231 commercial lots were offered, with a success rate of 85%. The average lot size was £586,000, up 15% compared with Allsop’s last commercial property auction in July.

Notably, the 154 retail lots to go under the hammer raised £84.7m, 73% of the total realised, with 62% of lots located outside of London and the South East and just over 10% selling for more than £1m.

Duncan Moir, partner and auctioneer at Allosp, commented: “We anticipated a solid result from the first sale of the autumn season despite the prevailing economic uncertainty, but the strong showing from private investors exceeded our expectations.  Sentiment was very positive and it was standing room only, with an estimated attendance of over 500 people throughout the day.

“In particular, we saw competitive bidding from a number of long-term investors motivated by attractive long-term income. Commercial and mixed-use assets offer a better spread of risk, as well as less stringent tax regime when compared to the buy-to-let market.  Indicative of the demand in the commercial property market, average rental yields sharpened to 7.1% from 8.1% in July.”