Lockdown sales: virtual national auction raises almost £8 million

A recent national property auction, held virtually by SDL Auctions, raised £7.7 million for property sellers.

The mammoth seven-hour event, held behind closed doors to respect social distancing rules, saw auctioneer Andrew Parker get through a catalogue of 115 lots.

Parker worked alongside his wife, Rachael, and his son, Elliott, who managed online bidding. The rest of the SDL Auctions team worked remotely, taking telephone bids and reporting them via Microsoft Teams.

"It was a huge team effort and I couldn’t be more proud of every single staff member who pulled together to make our first national property auction a huge success," says Parker.

"We are providing a valuable service to sellers at this difficult time. Not everyone is in a position to wait until the crisis passes and lockdown restrictions are eased, so we are proud to be here for those sellers and to keep the auctions industry moving."

The first lot, a house in Beeston, Nottingham, which requires full refurbishment, attracted some lively bidding and ended up selling for £235,000 from a guide price of £135,000.

Another stand-out lot was a bungalow in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. It sold for £130,000 from a guide of £50,000 after some fierce bidding.

"If anyone else has a bungalow in Milehouse Lane, you should get in touch because we have several buyers waiting," adds Parker.

SDL Auctions reports that land was also very popular with buyers, with a plot in Nottinghamshire selling for £160,000 from a guide price of £75,000.

"We are hugely grateful to all of our buyers and sellers who put their trust in us to handle their property transactions at this difficult time," says Parker.

"We are proud to offer the speed and certainty of an auction sale, with a fall-through rate of less than 2% and completion typically taking place in 20 working days. It’s reassuring to have this level of certainty in uncertain times."

The auctioneer is now taking entries for its next event, which will again take place behind closed doors, on Thursday May 28 2020.