The auction room provided a pessimistic indicator for the wider market on Monday, as Allsop posted its lowest success rate since 1995.
The UK’s largest property auction house, seen as the blue-chip name in property auctions and considered a bellwether for the commercial market, achieved a success rate of 60%, well below its long-term average of about 80%.
The success rate was slightly lower than the 65% achieved at its last sale in May, but the £20m raised was two thirds lower than the previous sale.
Pushing water uphill
The sale shows that the appetite among lenders for property has diminished significantly in the last two months.
‘There were a lot of people in the room, a lot of them observing, but trying to get people to bid on things was like pushing water uphill,’ Allsop auctioneer Duncan Moir said.
‘There are a lot of people who still want to be in the sector, but it is difficult if there isn’t any finance available or if the terms are significantly different to what they were even two months ago.
‘Some vendors will accept where the market has moved to, and some will not or cannot.’
