Acuitus’ first commercial property auction of 2016 raised £56.38m across 72 lots, with 98% of the properties selling at an average price of £817,000.   The top price achieved in the auction was £3.345m for Castlegate House in Sheffield, a 99,275 sq ft city centre retail investment let to BHS Properties and Frozen Value until 2065 and 2023 respectively.   The auction also demonstrated the continued popularity of pub investments, with J W Wetherspoon’s Becketts Bank pub in Park Row, Leeds, selling for £2.85m at a yield of 5.6%.  

Chairman Richard Auterac commented: “We have been talking since last summer about the growing latent investor demand in the auction room and this was a tremendous illustration of that.   “We have been working painstakingly with sellers and their professional advisers to bring the right assets to the market at the right prices and this shows what can be achieved when this is done. As equity and bond markets remain volatile, investors have sent out a strong message about the attraction of property.  

“This is the first auction of the year to really show the momentum that the auction room can achieve as investors clamour for property assets. Sellers should realize the opportunities for strategic disposals that auctions currently offer.”   Acuitus’ next auction will take place at the Millennium Hotel, 44 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 2HP on Tuesday 23 March.