Published on Wednesday 22 February 2012 08:27
ALMOST three-quarters of the properties on offer failed to make their bargain basement price reserves at an auction in Belfast last night.
Despite guide prices as low as £39,500 for a well presented three-bedroom modern property in the city — or £50,000 for a half-acre site with full planning permission in Markethill — only five of the 22 lots up for grabs were confirmed sales.
The auction list at the height of the property boom in 2007 would have been expected to fetch in the region of £5 million.
Five others lots were sold conditionally (pending the seller’s consent) after the final bids fell short of the pre-auction reserve.
Organised by City Property Services, the auction at the Malone Lodge Hotel attracted around 40 potential buyers.
A former public house and living accommodation at Station Road in Kells — with a guide price of £60,000 — failed to attract a single bid.
Also failing to interest the buyers was a building site on the Lismenary Road in Ballyclare with full planning permission for four detached houses. Before last night’s auction there were high hopes of the 0.64 acre site realising as much as £250,000. The guide price was listed as £199,000 but there were no bidders.
Of the properties without reserve, a stunning thatched cottage in Donegal sold for 90,000 euro and a three-bedroom end terrace in Lisburn for £60,000. Both were around £30,000 below the guide price.
The latest University of Ulster house price survey shows the average price of a home in Northern Ireland has fallen to £137,219 — down from £250,586 in the third quarter of 2007.
CPS managing director Art O’Hagan said the slump presented opportunities for those at the bottom of the property ladder.
“It’s interesting times in the property market for both vendors and buyers. Hindsight is wonderful, but in some ways we have to realise that first time buyers are able to acquire a family home at a monthly cost, costing less than renting a property.”
Mr O’Hagan said the auction process attracted two main types of sellers.
“It’s either repossessions or people with set circumstances who want their sale brought to a head. They feel this is a very open forum and the ordinary member of the public is now buying at auction.”
l Some of those bidding on properties last night had arranged surveys in advance and agreed a maximum purchase price with a mortgage lender.
Once a bid is accepted, contracts are signed on the night and a deposit is paid. CPS stipulate a minimum deposit of £2,500 or five per cent of purchase price.
Unlike the often protracted private house sale process, an auction transaction is usually completed within 28 days.