"With encouraging buyer sentiment and a healthy pipeline ahead, we remain optimistic for the remainder of the year."
- Alex Neil - Allsop
Allsop raised £26.5m at its May commercial property auction, selling 39 lots at an 85% success rate. Eight lots sold for £1m or more and 12 achieved prices at least 10% above their reserves, with an average overage across all sold lots of 22%.
The strongest result came from a town centre retail property in Guildford let to Urbn UK Limited until 2028, which sold prior to the auction for £3.1m, reflecting a net initial yield of 9.3%. The average lot size across the auction was £679,846.
Regional assets dominated the sale. 76% of lots sold were located outside London and the South East, accounting for 51% of total sales value. Retail remained the most active sector, representing 76% of lots sold and 75% by value.
Buyer sentiment was notably strong. Allsop's post-auction survey found 100% of respondents had bought at auction before and planned to do so again. 85% said they were using cash to complete their purchases, pointing to the continued depth of experienced private capital in the commercial auction market.
The May result brings Allsop's commercial auction total for the year to £132m from 169 lots, at an overall success rate of 89%, with 46 lots sold for more than £1m.
Highlights from the auction included:
- Lot 8, Mold: a freehold supermarket investment let to Farmfoods on a new 10-year lease, sold for £1.45m at around 6.5% NIY.
- Lot 13, Limehouse, London: a freehold convenience store let to Tesco until 2034, sold for £1.475m at around 6.1% NIY.
- Lot 14, Guildford: the top lot, a town centre retail property let to Urbn UK Limited until 2028, sold prior to auction for £3.1m at around 9.3% NIY.
- Lot 20, Ilfracombe, Devon: a multi-let industrial site totalling around 8,000 sq ft, sold for £950,000 at around 8% NIY.
- Lot 22, Treorchy, South Wales: self-contained industrial and office accommodation totalling around 91,206 sq ft, sold for £1.6m at around 15.7% NIY.
- Lot 25, Eltham, London: a retail and residential parade comprising four shops and four flats, sold for £1.135m at around 7.1% NIY.
"Despite the backdrop of ongoing political and economic uncertainty, the result from our May auction demonstrates that when pricing is realistic, buyers are prepared to look beyond the headlines and take a long-term view," said Alex Neil, commercial auction partner at Allsop.
"We continue to see strong participation from experienced cash buyers and clear demand for well-located retail and regional assets. With encouraging buyer sentiment and a healthy pipeline ahead, we remain optimistic for the remainder of the year."
Allsop's next commercial auction takes place on Wednesday, 10 June and will be live-streamed.
