The high street is not dead, according to a leading Wales property auctioneer.
Paul Fosh, of Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, said: “Some of the lots went really well at our June sale achieving very good prices. What this shows is that quality properties will always find a buyer if priced correctly.
“There is still a feeling of nervousness among buyers. It pays pays to come to the auction having researched a couple or three targets to aim for at the sale.
“If you don’t succeed with one then you may be successful with another which was the case at this auction with some of the bidders sticking at it to the end determined to make a purchase.
“What can happen is buyers all regard a particular property as a bargain or a good buy which pushes the price up when two or three are bidding. However other equally good value properties may be overlooked providing a good buy for the canny bidder.
“The sale also proved that the much-maligned high street, despite what we may read or hear, is not dead with a number of sales at the auction most notably in Blackwood.”
One example of a commercial sale was at 111 High Street, Blackwood, where a former women’s clothes shop listed with a guide price of £125,000, lifted due to pre-auction interest from £115,000, sold for £135,000.
The property over two floors with retail on the ground and offices above, leased to a taxi firm at £4,800 a year, offered a total area of 1,804 sq ft.
A detached, four-bedroom house for improvement at 51 High Street, Troedrhiwfuwch, New Tredegar, complete with outside loo, was listed with a guide price of £18,500-plus. It sold after keen interest from the auction room for £47,500.
A three-storey, five-bedroom, three reception, mid terraced Victorian house at 15 Stow Park Avenue, Newport, sold for £200,000 after being listed with a guide price of £190,000-plus.
An end-of-terrace house at 182 Commercial Road, Pill, Newport with accommodation across three floors sold after intense bidding for £111,000.
The property had six rooms on the lower ground floor, three receptions rooms and former kitchen on the ground and five bedrooms above has been listed for £89,000-plus.
A first floor flat, at 4c Clytha Square, Newport, close to the city centre, listed at £45,000-plus, sold for £55,000.
Altogether a total of 65 lots were offered for sale with 41 sold realising a total sale of £2,917,245.
The next sale is on Thursday, August 1, at The Cardiff North Hotel, Cardiff starting at 5pm.