314 of the 340 lots offered were sold at the four Allsop Space auctions last year, according to the group’s Auction Report 2011.
With a success rate of 92.4%, the four auctions at Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel – the most recent of which was at the end of November – raised €52.4 million.
The firm’s first auction sale on 15th April offered 82 lots of which 81 were sold raising in excess of €15m. Since then a further three sales have increased the firm’s total realisation for the year to over and such has been their success that a further five sales are planned for 2012.
The Allsop Space report said: “Under existing legislation (Data Protection Act) sales prices may not be publicly disclosed without the consent of both vendor and purchaser, the only exception being auction results. In the absence of a public register of prices, it has been almost impossible to value Irish property accurately. Price movements, for example, have been expressed by reference to asking prices, which can only ever indicate sellers’ aspirations. These public auction sales however are totally transparent and have established a valuable register of transactional evidence.
“The auction rooms are typically attended by over 2000 potential buyers. The market has been delivered a huge boost of confidence. Bidders can now see that others share their willingness to buy. No longer are offers submitted in an uncomfortable vacuum.
“In addition, the regular sale of income producing residential investment properties (RIPs) has established a pattern of investment yields for different property types in different locations. Investors can now benchmark the performance of properties against each other and against other asset classes.
"Allsop Space has proven that auction is effective in openly establishing best price for a wide variety of residential, commercial and mixed use properties in any location. Properties in all 26 counties of the Republic have now been sold under the hammer at the firm’s auctions.”
A broad mix of property types has been sold at auction. To date the majority of lots offered have been residential and have included houses, apartments and blocks located across Dublin and the regions. An interesting mix of commercial property also attracted a lot of interest, ranging from tenanted and vacant retail units, licensed premises and industrial units, to a nursing home, restaurants and tenanted pharmacies. 54 commercial properties were offered and 50 were sold representing a 92.6% success rate, and raising €11.5 million. The intense interest in the commercial sector was reflected in an average sale price 38% above reserve.
Almost half of the properties at auction were tenanted income producing investments. Both the commercial and residential sectors have proven extremely popular with investors and owner occupiers alike with 96% of tenanted lots offered successfully selling. The auction process allows for the smooth transaction of income producing property, with tenants unaffected.
In their report, Allsop said there was still a great appetite for property in Ireland despite the bubble bursting in the property market.
They said: “Despite the downturn, the appetite for sensibly priced property within the Irish psyche is undiminished. Of over 160 registered remote bidders, only 39 were successful. Most were outbid by the Irish at home. The competitive bidding generated between domestic and foreign bidders has contributed greatly to the strong sale prices returned at auction.”
Allsop Space’s next auction takes place on March 1st.
A full version of the report, including a county by county breakdown of sales, is available to view here.
