It’s a buyers’ market as city auction lures bidders

Jul 9 2008 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

MORE than £2.6m was raised in sales at the latest Sutton Kersh property auction in Liverpool, with 40% of the 83 lots sold.

One enterprising bidder bagged himself a bargain. He walked away with a former police unit in St Helens for £13,000.

The property in Derbyshire Hill Road was highlighted as a good development opportunity, and had a guide of £10,000. The auctioneer began the bidding at £5,000 and some keen purchasers soon started making offers before the gavel finally came down at £13,000.

The auction began with some frantic bidding for Lot 1, a vacant three-storey residential building on Anfield Road. It had a guide of £115,000 and sold for £145,000. Kersh director James Kersh said: “The auction began very positively. The room was busy and there was competitive bidding for the opening lot from numerous interested parties in the room. The level of bidding soon eased off. There was bidding, but properties rarely met the reserve price. There has been a lot of activity post-auction with purchasers sensing that there are great deals to be had through post-auction negotiating. This reiterates the point that we are operating in a buyer’s market.”

Mr Kersh said feedback from buyers indicated that availability of finance was proving to be the major obstacle to investing.

He added: “There are many investors that are sitting on their hands and waiting until prices drop even further. While this may appear a good tactic, the time when prices are at their lowest will be the time when there is most competition in the market.”

The next Kersh auction will take place on September 5 at the Marriott Hotel, in Queen Square.

tonymcdonough