A marina complex on the Essex coast at Brightlingsea sold for £6.6m as the Acuitus May auction raised £54.03m with the sale of 67 properties.
The 7.44 acre property encompasses a 50-berth marina and 133 homes plus shops. It produces current annual income of £483,430pax and sold at a yield of 6.8%.
Acuitus auctioneer, Richard Auterac, commented: “The marina was a complex sale which required a strong working relationship between ourselves and our clients, their solicitors and the joint agents. We were delighted that the considerable effort that was put into this sale before the auction produced a successful result – more than £1m above the initial guide price”.
The auction brought the total volume of assets sold by Acuitus at its first three sales of the year to £170m which is an increase of 50% compared to the same period in 2015. It is also the sixth auction in a row where total sales of more than £50m have been achieved.
There was concerted bidding throughout the May auction and 14 lots sold for more than £1m.
Richard Auterac commented: “There is little evidence that our buyers are being influenced by the EU Referendum. Indeed a close analysis of the individual sale results suggests a significant hardening of yields as buyers lock into a steadily improving secondary commercial property market against a background of low returns in the bond market, volatility in the equity market and attractive bank loans for property purchases”.
The strength of buyer demand was illustrated by the sale of two London retail investments in Highgate and Edgware. A Tesco Express investment at 23-25 Swain’s Lane, Highgate sold for £1.005m at a yield of 3.8% while the Ladbrokes-occupied 112-114 Burnt Oak Broadway achieved £870,000 with a yield of 4.8%.
However, the sale also demonstrated investor demand for other sectors and regional locations. The Ace Business Park in Birmingham – a 119,000 sq ft industrial investment – sold for £3.25m at a yield of 7% while an Odeon cinema investment in Canterbury sold for £2.79m at a yield of 6%.
Richard Auterac comments: “Investor confidence across the sectors and throughout the country continues to improve. Today we saw sales that encompassed locations in England, Scotland and Wales. This broadening of demand is being driven in part by the continued flow of new investors into our commercial property market”.
Other lots sold in the auction included:
The fourth Acuitus auction of 2016 will take place on July 7th at the Radisson Blu Portman Hotel, 22 Portman Square, London W1H 7BG.
