It might not all be doom and gloom following Britain’s vote to exit the European Union. The UK’s commercial property auction market is heating up, attracting bidders from all corners of globe.
Britain’s 900 billion pound commercial real estate market was an early victim of the so-called Brexit, with investors pulling money out of commercial property funds, according to Reuters. And since the vote, average commercial property values have fallen around 3.5 percent.
But for commercial property auctioneers — who typically focus on smaller properties – things are looking sunnier.
Allsop, Britain’s biggest auctioneer, saw its biggest sale volume in a decade this month. Around 500 people attended a recent Allsop sale, while a further 6,000-odd investors bid remotely.
“People have asked whether the market might be approaching a peak, but sales like these show we are only just getting out of the blocks,” auctioneer Richard Auterac told Reuters. [ [Reuters] –Christopher Cameron