Lambert Smith Hampton held its first commercial property ballroom auction sale of 2016 on Monday 22nd February at Le Meridien Hotel, Piccadilly, with a record number of bidders in attendance pushing the sale success rate to an outstanding 94%.
Key statistics:
44 lots available
41 lots sold
94% success rate
£13,385,000 total sales receipt
£326,463 average selling price
In an auction that spanned the UK, with properties on offer from Buckie, Scotland, down to Ilfracombe, Devon, the largest lot sold was lot 44 – a freehold retail parade and doctor’s surgery in Hertfordshire, which reached £2.4 million off a guide price of £1.5 million. At the other end of the scale, lot 22 – 5.29 acres of freehold land in Liverpool that is subject to 999 year leases at peppercorn rent, was purchased for £1!
Lot 10 – a freehold residential/retail property in Woking that is suitable for development into up to 14 flats – received the fiercest bidding, selling for £1.4 million off a guide price of £900,000. This guide price had already been increased from £820,000 after the first week of marketing, due to the high demand received. Previous to this sale, the property had been in the same family ownership for approximately 50 years.
Oliver Childs, head of auctions for Lambert Smith Hampton, comments: “Following LSH’s recent successful launch of online commercial property auctions, this sale proves that ballroom auctions are here to stay too and the skill is in deciding which is the best method to use for each property. As an example, Severn Trent Water sold lots in the online and the ballroom auction and received a 100% success rate in both. Lambert Smith Hampton is the first property auctioneer to offer an online platform alongside its traditional sales, in addition to asset, plant and machinery auctions, and we’re delighted to see how well the comprehensive range has been received.”