Lisburn apartments beat reserve price at auction

The development, Laganville Court in Warren Gardens, comprises eight apartments, four of which are close to completion.

The property was the most expensive lot on the auction list and its sale price of £310,000 comfortably exceeded its maximum reserve price of £250,000.

Osborne King said the auction a “success” with fourteen of the seventeen lots on offer selling and achieving a sales rate of 82%, above the UK average.

Maximum reserve prices started at £8,000.

Mark Carron, Head of Osborne King’s auction team said: “The property market remains a very tough environment in which to operate. However, we are pleased with these results and that we have been able to maintain our overall sales figure of 85%, despite the challenges of the market at present.

“The success of our auctions to date shows that auctions do work and appeal to cash buyers provided that pricing is right and that the stock available reflects this.

“Obviously, we would very much like to see more funding made available to prospective buyers, particularly since we are probably at the bottom of the market meaning that now is an excellent time to buy. Unfortunately, this is something that is unlikely to be addressed satisfactorily within the foreseeable future, irrespective of recent government initiatives aimed at pumping more cash into the banking system.”

The company’s final auction for 2012 is due to take place in November.