Bargain homes bagged at auction
There was standing room only at the BTWCairns residential property auction at the Europa Hotel in Belfast..jpg
BARGAIN hunters were celebrating this weekend after seizing on the collapse in property prices to snap up super-cheap houses at auction.
Twenty-four residential lots, starting from £10,000, were sold in little more than an hour at the major sale in Belfast on Friday.
It was standing room only as almost 1,000 people crammed into one of the largest reception areas at the Europa Hotel.
The organisers of the auction, which was first reported in the News Letter on Saturday, confirmed last night that the auction had generated almost £3 million.
It comes amid a fresh batch of house price surveys which show the scale of the fall in house prices. The Nationwide quarterly seasonally adjusted index found average home prices in the Province to be £113,614 in the final quarter of last year, down 50.2 per cent from a peak of £227,970 in the third quarter of 2007.
This newspaper revealed last year that another major housing survey, the Halifax, had become the first to find Ulster house prices down more than 50 per cent from peak.
The sharp falls in property prices has caused misery to homeowners trapped in negative equity but has given fresh hope to first-time buyers, many of whom were shut out of the market during the boom years.
Hopeful buyers flocked to Friday’s auction, which attracted 500 prospective bidders as well as hundreds of curious observers who sat or stood in the auction room.
A spokesperson for BTWCairns, who co-ordinated the sale, said: “All the properties available at the auction were residential properties throughout Northern Ireland, from apartments in Belfast, semi-detached homes in Newtownards to detached bungalows in Portstewart.
“Each lot attracted bidding throughout the packed room as a wide range of buyers sought to take advantage of the incredible value on offer.”
Trevor Dougan, director at BTWCairns, said: “Each property sold for at least the reserve price or beyond. Buyers recognise value and we are seeing more and more purchasers re-entering the property market to take advantage of the deals of offer — clearly people now recognise that property prices are at a level that represents significant value.
“There was standing room only in the venue as both private buyers and developers bid for lots of interest to them. Auctions provide an efficient buying process for the correct type of property, with the contract being signed within minutes of the hammer dropping and completion taking place only weeks after.”
The auction was hosted by experienced property auctioneer Kevin Milhench, one of the founding partners of the business now known as BTWSheils. He said: “Clearly all the bidders in the room, from private purchasers to developers, had done their research and were prepared to engage in the process to secure a good deal. This is vital for a successful auction, and the key to ensuring the properties sell.”
One of the most striking sales was two huge listed terraced properties, totalling 9,000 square feet, on one of the grandest streets in Belfast — College Gardens, between Queen’s University and Methodist College.
The near derelict houses, which in good condition at the height of the market would have fetched at least £1million each, had a reserve price of £225,000 and sold for slightly more £230,000.
The next BTWCairns residential property auction is scheduled for May.
Meanwhile, a UK-wide study has predicted that the proportion of first-time buyers is set to rise slightly this year, but they could face a narrower choice of properties due to a lack of first-time sellers.
Rightmove said the proportion of buyers who intend to purchase their first home over the next year has edged up slightly to 24.3 per cent, but remains well below the 40 per cent “healthy” historic level.
Separate surveys in Northern Ireland have shown that affordability of first-time buyers here has improved markedly due to falling prices.
Halifax are reporting even sharper house price falls than Nationwide. The overall drop in the province is 53 per cent from peak according to Halifax, who recorded average home prices of £107,418 in the final three months of 2011, down from a highest point of £227,462 in the second quarter of 2007.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light showers
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