Yesterday's auction in the Shelbourne Hotel proved yet another major success for Allsop Space.
Just under €12.5 million was raised from the 87 properties that went under the hammer, with just six unsold and seven withdrawn.
The final tally of €12,416,500 was just over €2 million above the total price of the reserves.
In fact, of the 87 properties sold on the day, only four were for below the reserve price, with 10 selling at the reserve and 73 above it.
Undoubtedly one of the biggest successes of the day was Lot 91, an apartment in Upper Ormond Quay, which sold for €1,020,000 - €410,000 above its reserve.
That was just 35% above reserve though, whereas the likes of Lot 83 – a four bed end of terrace house in Monaghan – sold for 265% above its reserve, going for €182,500 in the end after bidding started with a reserve of €50,000. Lot 3 – a terraced house in Eyre Square in Galway - was even more successful, selling at 273.3% above the reserve.
Of course, it's not just the sales figures that make the auctions successful. The money raised on Thursday was more than the €11.4 million taken in in the last auction in November when there was more lots listed on the catalogue.
The crowd in the Shelbourne Hotel was significantly up as well. Early into the auction, auctioneer Gary Murphy had to ask some observers to leave the room to make space for potential bidders. Later a member of the hotel's staff estimated that over 2,500 people had made their way through the doors between the first property going under the hammer and lunchtime. The fact it ran until almost 4.30pm tells you that many more would have made their way through the doors in the afternoon.
Media interest was also at an all time high too, with the most cameras and reporters present since the first of Allsop Space's auctions last April. They would have been amongst the most disappointed to see Lot 55 – a home in Leitrim with a reserve of €7,500 – withdrawn.
Many people left the Shelbourne Hotel on Thursday believing they had got themselves a bargain.
Amongst the happiest was Patrick Diver, the current manager of The Sandhouse Hotel in Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal, who bought the 55 bedroom hotel and its surrounding lands for the reserve price of €650,000 – the same amount a decent sized house would have fetched in the boom.
His yelps were evident upon securing the property and many more were heard throughout the day.
Of course, behind a lot of these properties is some form of sorrow. At some stage or another, someone had taken a punt on them that hadn't paid off.
That's the reason why protestors are a common sight outside Allsop's auctions and could perhaps explain why a number of people had to be removed from the Shelbourne early on.
One man roared “shame on you” as the auction got underway while another described the practice as "vulgar".
The tide is turning though, with Allsop reporting that a third of the properties put forward for yesterday's catalogue coming from private individuals wishing to cash in on the success of the auctions, which yet again had a 94% success rate yesterday.
Today we ask you what your thoughts are but regardless what they might be, it appears the Allsop Space auctions are here to stay.
After raising €52 million from four auctions last year, they are well on course to beat that figure in 2012 with four more auctions to come, the next of which is pencilled in for May 2nd.
The auctions undoubtedly divide opinion but there's little doubt from the numbers that packed into the Shelbourne Hotel yesterday and from the many more that watched online, that they are becoming a form of entertainment for a wide range of people.
Each of the properties that features in the Allsop catalogues might be there as a result of repossession and/or a lost dream but the auction process is giving a new batch of people hope for the future with the number of online Australian bidders suggesting that some who may have been forced to leave these shores, might just be able to find their way back here as a result of the process.
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