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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Auction roundup – luxury towers, £1m-plus homes and a hopeful 2021

This week, Property Investor Today takes a closer look at the diverse lots at Bond Wolfe’s next sale, Allsop’s range of £1 million-plus properties, and Auction Estate’s ‘staggering’ February results.

Luxury tower apartment and smart homes available at next Bond Wolfe sale

A diverse range of properties ranging from bargain fixer-uppers and smart modern apartments to Birmingham’s Rotunda property will go under the hammer at Bond Wolfe Auction’s next sale on March 31.

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Apartment 400 in The Rotunda – Birmingham’s famous cylindrical high-rise building –  is heading the list of attractive city properties in this month’s catalogue.

The leasehold on the two-bedroomed apartment, which sits in the 265ft tower at the end of New Street in Birmingham city centre, has a guide price of £210,000-plus.

The property has been recently refurbished to an extremely high standard and has triple glazing, electric heating, an extraction system and intercom with concierge services.

Inside, there is an open-plan reception room and kitchen, complete with all fixtures, fittings and furniture, and one bedroom with an en-suite shower room and toilet, while the other has a Jack and Jill bathroom and toilet with shower.

Gurpreet Bassi, chief executive of Bond Wolfe Auctions, says: “There aren’t many properties across the UK with a more prominent address than The Rotunda, a building which has become synonymous with the second city.” 

“This would make an idea purchase for a young professional couple, or for a landlord who wants to be able to offer luxury in such a special location.”

The auction will also feature a wide score of Black Country homes for sale. A three-bedroomed, semi-detached house at 273 Stafford Road, Wolverhampton, comes with a guide price of £30,000-plus but will require extensive improvements.

Another three-bedroomed semi at 25 Sussex Avenue, Wednesbury, is in good condition with a guide price of £50,000-plus. The home boasts front and rear gardens, a conservatory, downstairs bedroom with en-suite wet room and toilet, and two bedrooms upstairs with a shower room and toilet.

Over in Brierley Hill, one of the stylish apartments at the Landmark building is listed with a guide price of £75,000. The property was previously offices before a redevelopment project by SevenCapital six years ago which created 180 homes. 

Another lot likely to attract bidders’ attention is a substantial, three-bedroomed detached house at 520 Sutton Road, Walsall, which is guided at £150,000-plus.

Bassi comments: “As our auctions have grown in size, so they have grown in the sheer range of properties we are able to offer for sale.”

“While some are in need of renovation, they have low guide prices that make them attractive to first-time buyers with DIY skills or landlords looking to increase their portfolios. Many others are in a good state of repair and simply need a new family to stamp their personality on them.”

He adds: “Our auctions are proving a major draw for both investors and house hunters from across the UK, with our last online auction in February attracting 23,000 people who watched the proceedings and 3,500 who were registered as bidders.”

“Moving to online, live-streamed auctions has opened up our catalogue to buyers who would never have attended a one-day physical auction in Birmingham, and I fully expect the March event to prove another major attraction.”

Some 226 lots are listed for Bond Wolfe Auction’s next online auction, which starts at 8.30am on Wednesday March 31. Bidding will be available by proxy, telephone or internet only.

Allsop’s resi sale offers 16 lots at £1 million-plus

Allsop’s has released the catalogue for its upcoming residential sale, with 16 of the 181 lots guided above £1 million.

The highest value lot of the catalogue, lot 54, is a mixed-use freehold building in Golders Green, north London, with a guide in excess of £3.75 million.

The catalogue features a spread of investments in London, Edinburgh, Manchester and Bath. Opportunities include a diverse mix of houses, apartments, ground rent investments and mixed-use schemes.

 

Richard Adamson, partner and residential auctioneer at Allsop, comments: “The residential property market had been frenetic over the last six months, partially due to the stamp duty holiday. As the deadline of March 31 approached, buyers were determined to purchase as soon as possible to benefit from the incentive, and consequently, vendors took advantage of the uptick in demand.”

“The recent extension to this deadline means the market will remain active, while some of the pressure experienced by those transacting will ease.”

He says despite the calmer environment, competitive bidding is expected on auction day.

“Our March catalogue features some of the highest quality lots we have released for some time, including 16 properties guided over £1 million and five lots guided over £2 million, with plenty of value-add opportunities on offer.”

Highlights of the residential catalogue include:

  • Lot 54 – a partially vacant mixed-use freehold building in Golders Green, north London, comprised of a recently let retail unit and eight apartments, guided at £3.75 million-plus.

  • Lot 70 and lot 71– a Grade II-listed 19th century mansion in Wales, boasting 37 rooms, 13.86 acres’ worth of gardens and grounds, and a detached gatehouse. The two lots are guided at £800,000 and £250,000 respectively.

  • Lot 33 – a leasehold detached stucco-fronted building in Notting Hill, west London, providing 7,319 sq. ft of hotel accommodation. The lot is guided at £3.5 million-plus.

  • Lots 44 and 45 – two freehold semi-detached three-storey houses in Hendon, north London, which can be purchased individually or as a combined investment. The lots are guided at £3.5-£3.75 million (if purchased collectively).

 The next online-only residential auction takes place on March 31. You can view the catalogue here.

Auctioneer anticipates strong year after Feb’s ‘staggering’ results

Nottingham-based Auction Estates sold property worth £3.65 million in its February auction, despite earlier fears that the event might not take place.

Viewing restrictions and the unpredictable economic situation led to concerns in January that the firm would not have its usual level of properties to fill its catalogue for its February 18 auction.

But a late surge in lots from across the UK, combined with ‘virtual’ video tours created for each property by Auction Estates, meant the online auction returned one of its best results.

The unexpected upturn, which saw 91% of lots sold, matched the figures from February 2020 – when the firm’s last ‘in room’ auction took place before the UK’s first lockdown. The sale attracted over 200 pre-registered bidders.

One highlight saw a parcel of land in Manchester, with a guide price of £80,000-plus, sell for a massive £611,000. Another small piece of land near to Nottingham University’s campus sold for more than five times its £25,000 guide price.

Paul Giles, head auctioneer at Auction Estates, described the February results as ‘staggering’. He says: “It’s not unusual to see certain lots reach record prices, but what surprised us the most was the number of lots we sold that appeared marginal, where clients had set high reserve prices.”

“Our new virtual viewing tours, which are posted with the property information on our website, have proved extremely useful for buyers, particularly as we show the properties in such detail, warts and all.”

Giles puts the success of the February online auction partly down to buyers recognising their money will work harder in property, where rental returns average between 5 and 7%, than in the bank, where interest rates are low and increased bank charges are on the horizon.

The company, based in Carlton, Nottingham, also saw a marked increase in buyers from London and overseas, who are seeing huge potential in the East Midlands property market.

Giles adds: “We would normally expect February, our first auction of the year, to be the most challenging. Yet, despite being held behind closed doors, bidders are becoming more comfortable during lockdown with using virtual technology to secure property, so we are delighted with the positive trend we’ve witnessed.”

He believes that this pattern will continue for the rest of the year, but when banks begin to place more properties into receivership once the true economic fallout of the pandemic begins to hit harder, he feels that the auction market will grow ever stronger and be the preferred platform for property transactions.

Auction Estates will be holding its next online auction on April 15 2021. You can view the catalogue here.

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