Online property auctions are an increasingly popular way of buying and selling, and one hotel in Manchester’s Trafford area has created a record-breaking bidding war.
John Pye Property, one of the country’s biggest auction houses which operates solely online, has revealed its most popular lots over the past six years, with an abandoned hotel in Manchester taking top spot after it sold for £900,000.
The Trafford Park Hotel had an expected selling price of just £500,000, but achieved almost double that after attracting 232 bids, which led to the bidding time being extended by a record-breaking one hour and 50 minutes. The vacant old hotel, which was built in 1902, was finally bought by Ashley Hotels and Nine Group, but is now solely owned by Ashley Hotels.
North-west top spot for online auctions
Richard Reed, head of property at John Pye Property, said there were multiple reasons for the building’s popularity, including its great location close to Media City and Manchester United’s Old Trafford football stadium, its attractive guide price and the mechanism of sale meaning that it was open to a wider audience.
He added: “Externally the property was a stunning period property. However, the property, particularly internally, required a full course of remodelling and refurbishment.”
John Pye Properties has revealed that, while it is involved in property auctions across the UK, its most popular locations in recent years have been the Midlands, the north-west and Wales.
Changing property market landscape
“In the time we’ve been selling property at online auction we have seen some significant changes to the property landscape, including major tax increases affecting the property investor market, a number of elections and Brexit. All these factors have made the property industry a challenging market,” said Reed.
However, the property market’s resilience has been most marked in areas such as the north, and the growing appetite for online sales means people can bid on an auction anywhere in the country.
Reed continued: “With the emergence of the online property market and an ever-growing variety of properties that are suitable for buy-to-let, investors and homeowners we find that buyers in 2019 are having to become digitally savvy and prepared to think outside the box when it comes to making their purchase.”
“We predict that we’ll see more and more agents and auctioneers move to an online business model in the next few years.”
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