Auction house sales top £69m

MANCHESTER-based auction house Pugh & Co has released year-to-date figures that put it above market average sales rate after successful October auctions in Manchester and Leeds.

Pugh’s sales figures stand at £69m with a sale rate of 75%, 3% more than the auction market average.

After raising more than £9.9m in September’s auctions, Pugh reached a sales value of £11m from a 185-lot catalogue last week; £7.1m from its Manchester auction and £3.9mfrom its Leeds auction, and nearly £2m in land sales.

Highlights from the auctions included multiple plots of land with advertising hoardings offered on behalf of Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, which collectively raised £276,000 in the room for the local authority.

On behalf of Cheshire East Council, Pugh offered a large detached house in Cheshire, which was previously arranged as flats on a large plot sold for £315,000 from a guide price of £175,000.

In Leeds, the former Junction Inn Public House sold for 73% more than its guide price of £75,000 for a final bid of £129,000. Also, up for auction in Leeds were former NHS offices housed in picturesque building in Mansfield with the potential for residential conversion, this sold to the lucky bidder in the room for £450,000.

Paul Thompson, auctioneer and managing director of Pugh, said: “The success of our auctions in 2016 is a combination of a strong appetite in the investment market and highly desirable property and land up for sale.
 
“Despite the pressures 2016 has imposed on the property market, investors are pushing back against the changes and are continuing the strong investment we witnessed at the start of the year.

Pugh’s next auctions will be held in Manchester and Leeds on December 6 and 8.