BidX1’s July auction tops £11m

BidX1 raised just over £11m at its latest UK online auction, with a 90% success rate. The sale offered 49 lots with 44 finding buyers and 168 bidders taking part. Sixteen lots were withdrawn prior. The firm calculated that that there was almost £15m of unutilised liquidity across the 44 lots, based on the highest bid from each unsuccessful bidder. “That’s a significant amount of capital ‘left on the table’, and a solid indicator of investor demand,” said head of commercial auctions Oliver Childs. He added: “This week’s sale featured an increased proportion of receivership stock, a trend we expect to continue into Q3, and to increase again in Q4 as more corporate sellers seek to meet budget targets by year-end.” Successes included a vacant freehold shop and ground rent investment in Colindale, NW9 (lot 22), which sold for £1.7m off a guide of £700,000. Childs said: “This was a very complex sale, as potential purchasers had to consider a number of variables, including ground rent income, remedial works required on the external cladding of the building, and a vacant retail area, in order to form an opinion of their bid level.” Ten bidders registered on the lot, with seven taking part on the day, placing more than 200 bids. A freehold shop in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, let to Bonmarche for five years starting in March (lot 7), was sold on behalf of the LPA receiver. It attracted 109 bids before selling for £310,000, a 6.45% gross yield – £110,000 above guide. Bonmarche was rescued by Philip Day’s Peacocks in February. The sale also featured five surplus sites from UK Power Networks, after BidX1’s appointment as its preferred online auction provider last month. They all sold, raising a combined £126,200 against a combined reserve of £19,800. On the residential side, a leasehold flat in Fitzrovia, W1, offered in association with Foxtons, sold for £1.5m. A leasehold flat in Hampstead, NW3 (lot 55), also offered with Foxtons, sold for £428,000.   To send feedback, e-mail julia.cahill@egi.co.uk or tweet @EGJuliaC or @estatesgazette