Despite a backdrop of continued economic uncertainty and hesitancy amongst buyers, SDL Property Auctions has reported its best ever January.

Selling more than 110 residential, commercial and development land lots via its live streamed and online Timed Auctions, SDL Property Auctions raised £13m for its sellers – including the sale of a portfolio of 33 properties for £2m.

Auctioneer and Managing Director, Andrew Parker, said: “We were expecting, like many were, that January would be a quiet month and that sellers would be concerned about disposing of property amidst unsettled market conditions. However, we’ve been proved very wrong with a record number of properties being offered and posting our best ever January live-streamed auction results.”

The National Property Auction kicked off with excited and competitive bidding on a terraced property at 74 Margaret Street in West Bromwich (pictured), which had a guide price of £90,000+ (plus fees) and sold for £159,000.

Also with a guide price of £90,000+ (plus fees) was a two double bedroomed semi-detached house at 29 Hanbury Road in Chaddesden, Derby. After interest from several bidders, the property sold under the hammer for £127,000 creating another happy seller.

Further north, a terraced property at 23 Gotham Road in Wirral secured plenty of interest from 13 registered bidders and after a lengthy period of 65 bids, it sold for £264,000 from an initial guide price of £182,000+ (plus fees).

It wasn’t just residential property that saw exciting bidding campaigns either. A former factory at 30 Bridge Road in Woolston, Warrington with a guide price of £450,000+ (plus fees) attracted the attention of two determined bidders on the phone and online. Suitable for redevelopment (subject to planning consent), this lot sold for £560,000.

A warehouse and land at Tenfoot House in Glossop attracted an impressive 50 bids in the final hours of its Timed Auction and sold for £506,000 from a guide price of £425,000+ (plus fees).

Andrew added: “The high numbers of sellers and bidders demonstrates that the gap between seller expectations and buyer reality has most definitely reduced. Those successful bidders have now exchanged contracts and will have the keys to their new purchase within a month.

“In the past six months we have placed more focus on traditional unconditional sales in our live-streamed Auction Events and our online Timed Auctions, following the sale of our conditional sales portfolio last year. Our January results demonstrate that this was the right thing for our business and, more importantly, our customers.”

Undoubtedly the standout sale was a portfolio of 33 properties located across the north of England. The distressed terraced houses were all listed for sale as individual lots and attracted the attention of one investment bidder who snapped up the entire portfolio for £2m.

“We have a number of investor purchasers actively looking for properties they can develop and incorporate into their own portfolio,” explains Andy Thompson, Director of Auctions at SDL Property Auctions. “This sale is a great example of how well and how quickly properties can sell by auction. From instruction through to completion will be only six weeks.”