Thirty-two commercial properties sold for a combined $134 million at Burgess Rawson’s 150th Portfolio Auction in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, representing a strong start to the year for the market.
The auctions on three successive days in late February heralded the welcome return of face-to-face bidding and no density limits.
The 32 sales sold, represented a 78% clearance rate. The portfolio auctions gathered over 3,000 enquiries collectively, whilst 279 registered bidders were hungry to get their hands on the prized assets. The auctions had demand outstripping supply 9:1 and will produce a blended yield of 5.03%.
Sydney:
Held at the iconic Sydney Opera House, the opening day of Portfolio 150 had eight properties transact either prior to auction or under the hammer on the day, leading to $39.6m worth of assets selling.
The 40 people in attendance also faced fierce online bidding. Many investors have clearly become accustomed to online bidding during the pandemic with three of the successful eight buyers being online.
Six registered bidders battled it out for the Liquorland | BOQ, Tamworth, which ended up selling under the hammer for $3.12m, representing a 5% yield. The Busy Bees Pre-school, Picton, recorded a great result, transacting for $3.29m on a 4% yield.
Associate Director at Burgess Rawson in Sydney, Michael Vanstone, highlighted that “The Busy Bees Preschool was an exceptional result, sub 5% and 10% above expectations.
"The buyer of this property had been missing out on other Burgess Rawson childcare properties in the last six months. Although there was still solid participation from phone and online bidders, 42% of the bidders and most of the successful buyers were present in our rooms."
Sold - 16 Bridge Street, PICTON, NSW
Melbourne:
Hosted at Melbourne’s Crown Casino, Day 2 of Portfolio 150 saw 19 properties sell for a combined value of $74.5m. The Melbourne office achieve a record blended yield of 4.51%, and saw 12 properties sell for sub-5% yields. Of those, five of the 12 were on sub-4% yields.
Notable highlights from Day 2 included The Good Guys, Mildura transacting for $4.2m (3.75% yield), achieving a new record yield for freehold investments leased to The Good Guys.
The Tasman Butchers, Oakleigh South sold for $5.7m (21% above the reserve). Seven bidders kept going, well after the property went above the reserve, with the knockout blow coming with a $100,000 jump from the successful buyer based in Dandenong South.
Ingrid Filmer, Burgess Rawson CEO and Managing Partner, said: “The most competitive bidding was between buyers in the room after David Scholes (Burgess Rawson Auctioneer) had declared the vendor’s reserve had been reached ... the urgency heightened.
“In the case of the Oakleigh warehouse leased by Tasman Butchers, seven bidders were still going above the declared reserve, so it made for a very entertaining spectacle.”
National Tiles, Sunshine saw a bidding marathon as 53 bids were placed from two bidders, resulting in a $5.38m sale (3.73% yield).
The Goulburn Valley Imaging (Graham), Shepparton was placed on the market after the very first bid! The highly sought-after asset had 35 registered bidders and sold 40% above the reserve for $1.465m to a Caulfield-based buyer, whilst the under-bidder was bidding on a beach in Hervey Bay.
Reflecting on the atmosphere of Day 2, National Partner at Burgess Rawson Billy Holderhead, said: “After so long in lockdown-hibernation, remote auctions (dominated by online and phone bidding) were becoming the norm; so it was brilliant to see a queue of investors at our auction rooms at Crown Casino.”
Sold - 1358-1360 North Road, OAKLEIGH SOUTH, VIC
Brisbane:
The third and final day of the portfolio closed out in style as five commercial assets successfully found new owners. Held at the Hilton Hotel in Brisbane, $19.9m worth of property had transacted throughout the day, representing an 83% clearance rate.
Located close the water on the Gold Coast, Haymans Electrical, Currumbin Waters attracted six registered bidders and sold to a local buyer for $1.908m, achieving a 4.46% yield. Another asset on the Gold Coast, this time a Medical Centre with four tenants located on Gold Coast Highway in Mermaid Beach, ended up transacting for $6.125m, on a 4.98% yield.
To see all the results from Portfolio 150, visit Auction Hub
