Blogs of author

With substantial unsatisfied investor demand in the commercial property auction sector, Acuitus expects to see buyers out in force at its first auction of 2017.

Acuitus auctioneer, Richard Auterac, comments: “Although this has been a tremendous year for the sector with more than a £1bn of commercial property assets being sold at auction for the first time since 2007, the reality is that there is still a lot of unsatisfied investor demand out there.

“This means that there are significant opportunities for sellers. However, we have seen this year that a common denominator among assets that sell

Auction House has further consolidated its position as the UK’s leading auctioneer by reporting record results in 2016, with the number of lots sold far exceeding all other auctioneers in the country.

When the hammer fell for the last time this year, the award-winning brand had sold 3,282 lots in 2016 from 4,314 offered – a success rate of nearly 77%, and raising a total of over £426 million.

Commenting on the figures, Founding Director Roger Lake said: “This is a massive achievement for the brand, especially considering the upheaval this year – not only because of the unknown impact of Brexit

Allsop held its final sale of 2016 last week (15th December) at the Cumberland Hotel, raising a total of £46m with a success rate of 71%. This brings the total amount sold through the firm’s residential auction team to over £425m in 2016, meaning the team retains its number one position in the market for the 22nd year in a row.

Partner and auctioneer Gary Murphy commented on the day:

“This was a respectable result in what is clearly an adjusting market. We had seen modest success rates in other residential sales this December and were, therefore, expecting to see a softening in demand

Investment properties offering scope for development or with options to renovate attracted the most interest, with competitive bidding and results well over guide prices across multiple properties.

The highest value lot of the day was a development site of 0.2 acres in Westfield Road, Great Shelford, near Cambridge. The site had planning permission for the demolition of an existing bungalow and the creation of two detached houses. The property saw fierce bidding and the site was sold for £419,000 to a local developer.

A similar offering was lot 11, Brickyard Cottage in Bradley Common, near

SDL Auctions, the fourth largest auction network in the UK, has taken home its second silver award in two months at The Sunday Times Estate Agency of the Year Awards.

Auctions partner Gurpreet Bassi and senior valuer Robert Stone were presented with the silver award in the Best Auction Agency category, by 80s pop legend Martin Kemp and TV presenter Penny Smith. The trophy will now line up alongside a silver award presented to the team at last month’s Negotiator Awards.

Andrew Parker, auctioneer and managing director, commented: “This is an excellent way to round off a great 2016. To have been

Annual growth in UK house prices accelerated for the first time in eight months in November, a lender's figures show.

The Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said property prices had risen by 6% compared with a year ago.

That meant the cost of a typical home was £218,002, it said.

The faster price growth is in contrast with figures from rival Nationwide, which said annual house price growth had slowed to 4.4%.

Annual property price growth peaked at 10% in March. The Halifax said that, despite the pick-up it reported in November, "annual house price growth may slow over the coming months".​

The festive month of December looks like being a merry one at Auction House, as the group celebrates a record number of lots entered into its auctions - an increase of over a third (37%) on last year’s total.

Auction House has scheduled 25 auctions between the 1st and 15th December, involving 679 lots – a massive 182 ahead of last year.

Commenting on the figures, Founding Director Roger Lake said: “Listing a record number of lots in a month of continuing Brexit debate is an incredible achievement; it is a clear indicator that many more sellers are choosing the speed and certainty of auction to

The main advantage of buying a property at auction is that you avoid the lengthy process of buying a house in the traditional way. At auction, the process happens in a matter of minutes rather than months and when the hammer falls, you own the property.

The other many benefits of buying property at auction are listed below. If these don't convince you, nothing will!

Low prices

Auctions really do offer the chance to secure property at bargain prices. Thousands of properties are sold at auction in the UK every year - and many are hard to value, meaning they often sell at below market value. You

Three investment properties, each topping £1 million, are the highlight of SDL Bigwood’s final auction of the year.

Going live at the Holte Suite, Aston Villa, on Thursday 8 December, it features 109 lots, capping a record year for the company with a total of 797 going under the hammer during 2016.

Auction partner Gurpreet Bassi said: “We have a real mixed bag this time with a range of residential, commercial, land, garages, ground rents, vacant and investment lots with guide prices ranging from £1,000 to £1.55 million.

“We are delighted to be offering six lots for Birmingham City Council and

Auction finance is a great way for property developers to secure a below-market-value property, often from a motivated seller. It could even be suitable for first-time developers too, if you’ve got the right expectations from the beginning.

Putting up your hand and bidding on a property worth hundreds of thousands of pounds is a daunting prospect, even for experienced auction-goers. If you make the winning bid, you?ll usually have to pay a non-refundable deposit on the day, and you?ll have 28 days to pay the balance.

That means that the timeframe for auctions is much shorter than the