BREXIT anxieties were dampened recently as auction property buyers loosened their wallets to snap up well priced lots and solid investment properties.
A buoyant air of optimism infused the auction room when Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, with the BBC’s Homes Under the Hammer filming proceedings, brought it’s latest catalogue to auction.
Paul Fosh, owner of Wales’s most successful property auction business, said: “It’s fair to say that Brexit has been lurking large over recent months and its affect has to add a sense of trepidation among buyers and sellers.
“However, this wasn’t in evidence at the latest sale as there appeared to be a renewed sense of buoyancy and confidence which resulted in properties flying out of the sale room.
“Well priced, neat and tidy properties are finding eager buyers and we achieved really strong prices for some of the more eagerly contested properties from buyers in the room and also by phone.”
A stand out property which sold after concerted interest was an imposing block of flats at 60 Cardiff Road, Newport, close to the Royal Gwent Hospital (Lot 20).
The block of five-fully let flats, each with their own lease and generating a combined annual rental income of £30,408, was listed with a guide price of £390,000-plus.
Paul said: “This was a key property on the night and there was strong interest in the room. The fully let block, in a renovated property which has been extended and improved over the years, sold for £425,000 which equates to just £85,000 per flat and potentially a very good return on investment.”
Another Newport property which had bidders’ hands flying up and telephones ringing was a traditional five-bedroom house at 30 Clyffard Crescent in the Maindee area of the city (Lot 2).
The three-storey, semi-detached property, close to the city centre, with off-road parking and requiring complete renovation, was listed with a guide of £139,000 plus and eventually sold for £171,000 after intense interest.
Paul said: “A Newport city centre property of this size and scope doesn’t come to the market that often so when it does it creates a great deal of interest. Investors and speculators continue to be are keen to get into Newport and snap up well priced prospects as and when they are presented for sale.”
Other well-presented properties also found ready and willing buyers with terraced properties, such as the two-bedroom one at 2 Penryhn Terrace, Phillipstown, New Tredegar, which was listed with a guide of £18,000 and realised £33,500 (Lot 3).
A three-bedroom terraced home at 74 Commercial Road, Abercarn, requiring full upgrading and listed with a guide price of £54,000 sold for £75,000 after a bid room battle. (Lot 11)
While two interconnecting terraced houses, at 70-72 Arail Street, Six Bells, Abertillery, which had previously been used as offices, listed with a guide price of £38,000-plus sold for £71,000 (Lot 14).
The October sale realised a total of £2,886,000 with 37 properties sold from 55 offered, a percentage of sales of 67 per cent.
The next sale, the Christmas sale and the last of the year, at The Cardiff North Hotel, Cardiff, is on Thursday, December 5, starting at 5pm.