Lots to go for at property auctions

AUCTIONS step back into the sales fray in early 2015, with Allsops set to auction more than 220 lots later this month, while Iam-Sold is now stepping up to at least 14 auction events this coming year, moving now to Dublin after establishing in Galway and Cork/Munster in 2013/14.

It will be the most auctions held by any company nationally this year, says Iam-Sold director Patrick Convey, as they ran eight successful Galway and Cork auctions last year, with an 87% sales record.

Iam-Sold partners with 100 Irish auctioneer firms, using a mix of on-line auctions and formal public auctions. Its next event is in Galway on Feb 26, followed by Cork on March 12 with 25 lots expected, and strong Cork/Limerick demand reported, while Dublin kicks off on May 21.

Meanwhile, a Tralee retail investment with nine units is to feature among the 222 lots in Allsops’ first 2015 auction on February 18.

Price guide for the nine retail investment units sold as one lot in the Tralee Shopping Centre is €475,000 - €525,000. Two of the units are rented and seven are currently vacant.

Also in Kerry is a 2.5 acre site next to Ballybunion Golf Course, with a reserve range of €152,000-€175,000. It has planning permission for a 71 suite hotel, and eight apartments.

Meanwhile, further north in Munster is the former Irish Nationwide Building Society offices in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, with a reserve in the €125,000-€140,000 range. In all, there’ll be 28 land/site lots nationally on offer, with a combined reserve of €2.6m.

There’ll be keen interest to see investor appetite now the CGT exemption threshold has passed, and on offer are eight lots with reserves over €1m.

Last year saw Allsops Space gross over €260m from a mix of 1,081 commercial and residential properties, and its last 2014 auction saw lots split residential/commercial, over two days.

Director Robert Hoban says “that a very strong appetite exists for the right property in the right location: passing income is of particular interest to investors.”

Hoban adds that last year saw a marked increase in first-time buyers and owner occupiers bidding at auction, and he expects this trend to continue in ‘15.

Tenants in investments offered later this month include Government agencies, such as IDA and HSE, as well as brands like Next, Argos and BWG Foods. Included is a 71-bed Clanbrassil Street Dublin hotel, and the Shandon Hotel & Ocean Spa in Dunfanaghy, Donegal — hoping to emulate the widely reported success back in 2012 when the 55-bed Sandhouse Hotel in Donegal’s Rossnowlagh sold at an early Allsops auction for €650,000.

This latest hotel offer on eight acres has 71 beds, and first opened in 1920: reserve is €670,000/€730,000.

Details: www.allsopspace.ie; Iam-Sold 021-2349696 www.munsterpropertyauction.ie / ww.iam-sold.ie.