Auction House East Anglia held its first auction of the new year on Wednesday, February 7, selling a mixture of residential, commercial and land across 42 lots and raising over £6.5 million.
“Last year was an excellent year for Auction House East Anglia,” commented Robert Hurst, auction surveyor. “We held eight livestream auctions, offered 639 lots and sold 464 lots, giving an average success rate of 73pc and raising £79 million.”
Despite this success, the current status of the property market has had an impact on the property auction world too, as Robert explained: “The current interest rate has forced many sellers to realise that to achieve a sale on their property within a reasonable time frame, they need to be selling at a figure significantly less than during the post-Covid boom. While it has created larger catalogues for us it has not translated into a significantly larger number of properties being sold at auction.
“The number of properties withdrawn before the auction or unsold on the day of the auction is higher than normal. One of the reasons for this is being an investor landlord has lost its appeal to some over the last year and the reduced number of buyers has squeezed pricing in this sector, particularly on tenanted flats.
“We have noticed an increase in the number of people buying at our auctions to live in the property themselves, rather than the traditional type of auction purchaser looking to buy and flip.”
A rising number of sellers may also be looking at auction across 2024 , as the impact of the rising mortgage rates and the cost of living crisis comes to a head.
“There are still many people who are yet to come to the end of competitive fixed-rate mortgage deals,” said Robert. “For some, the significant rise in monthly repayments will prove challenging and they may want to exit the market quickly and chose auction due to the speed and certainty that it offers.
“We expect a busy year,” he concluded, “but more than ever sensible pricing will be key.”
One of the highlights from Wednesday’s auction was the sale of a cottage on Mariners Hill in Blakeney. On instruction of a trustee, the four-bedroom Grade II listed coastal cottage, which offered stunning views of Blakeney marshes, had a number of internet and telephone bidders. It was the first time it had gone on the market since 1904, making it a rare opportunity. Guided at £400,000, competitive bidding pushed the final hammer price to £597,000.
Some of the other sales from the auction include:
- On behalf of a council, a two-bedroom terrace house requiring improvement on Wymer Street in Norwich sold for £186,000.
- On behalf of a council, a three-bedroom Grade II listed house on King Street in Norwich sold for £215,000.
- A one-bedroom mid-terrace house at Park House Court, off Oak Street in Norwich, sold for £130,000.
- A three-bedroom maisonette in need of modernisation on Heathgate in Norwich sold for £91,000.
- On behalf of trustees, a mixed-use property comprising a vacant restaurant with flat above in need of refurbishment on Prince of Wales Road in Norwich sold for £182,000.
- A long leasehold industrial unit let producing £25,500 pa on Jarrold Way in Bowthorpe sold for £272,000, giving a 9pc yield.
- A six-bedroom detached house on Beverley Way in Drayton sold for £354,000.
- On behalf of liquidators, seven acres of land off John Davis Way in Watlington sold for £77,000.
- One acre of grazing land off Cromer Road in Roughton sold for £31,000.
- A former Victorian Methodist church on The Street in Sutton sold for £127,000.
- On behalf of a council, a three-bedroom detached house requiring refurbishment on Blofield Road in Brundall sold for £433,000.
- Two terraced houses requiring improvement on Suffolk Road in Ipswich sold for £127,000 each.
- A terraced house requiring modernisation on Waterloo Road in Ipswich sold for £143,000.
- A three-bedroom semi-detached house in need of modernisation on Smeeth Road in Marshland St James sold for £137,000.
- A small strip of land extending to 0.12 of an acre off Farndon Road in Market Harborough sold for £3,000.
- A former village coal house on The Street in Mendham sold for £19,000.
- A one-bedroom detached bungalow in need of modernisation on Isle Bridge Road in Outwell sold for £113,000.
- A four-storey end-terrace house with planning permission to convert into four flats on Paget Road in Great Yarmouth sold for £140,000.
- A community hall building on North Quay in Great Yarmouth sold for £102,000.
- A one-bedroom mid-terrace house in need of refurbishment on Camden Road in Great Yarmouth sold for £54,500.
- A two-bedroom detached bungalow on Beccles Road in Gorleston sold for £161,000.
- A vacant restaurant on Farmers Avenue in Norwich sold for £265,000.
This was the first of eight livestream auctions booked for this year from Auction House East Anglia. Robert said: “We are now taking entries for our next auction on Wednesday, March 20 with a closing date for entries towards the end of February. We also have an auction on May 1.”
If you have land or property that needs to be sold, call Auction House East Anglia on 01603 505100 for free, impartial advice or visit auctionhouse.co.uk/eastanglia
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