THE FOURTH Allsop Space auction of mostly distressed property on November 30th will be its largest so far, with reserves as little as €21,000 for four-bed houses in Donegal up to €420,000 for a period house in Dublin 6 – but the line-up doesn’t have the show-stopping properties of some earlier auctions.
With 112 lots around the country, the November auction, at the Shelbourne Hotel, will feature residential and commercial properties designed to appeal to domestic and foreign investors, first time buyers and trader uppers – it remains to be seen if there’s also a turnout of protestors.
There are some big properties with low reserves to whet buyer appetite including a double-fronted period house at 13 Garville Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6 with a reserve of €420,000 – the most expensive house of the auction – and 28 Grove Park in Rathmines, also in Dublin 6, with a reserve of €380,000. What might put buyers off, however, is that both are leasehold properties that are divided into flats.
Another interesting lot is a two-bed apartment in Adelaide Square, Dublin 8 with a reserve of €145,000. However in previous Allsop Space auctions properties in so-called “desirable” locations have generally sold for substantially more than the reserve. In July, for example, a house on Ailesbury Road with a maximum reserve of €1.4 million went for €2.325 million and a house on Glasnevin’s Iona Road with a reserve of €360,000 eventually sold for €710,000. In the last three auctions 80 per cent were cash buyers and a third were owner-occupiers.
Also in the next auction is a former nursing home in Rathfarnham on 1.64 acres with planning permission for 32 townhouses with a reserve of €400,000.
Around a third of the lots are apartments, including number 105, The Cubes, Beacon South Quarter, a two-bedroom apartment in Sandyford with a reserve of €130,000. There are also apartments in Raheny, Blackrock, Santry and Balbriggan.
Commercial properties include 174 Pembroke Road, Dublin 4, a freehold mid-terrace building arranged into two restaurants, with a reserve of €485,000 – the most expensive lot in the auction.
In Donegal, five four-bed houses in Beechwood Park in Convoy have reserves of €21,000 each – the cheapest homes going under the hammer. A lakeside log cabin-style house on the shores of Lough Sillan in Shercock, Co Cavan, with access to a private marina, features with reserve price of €50,000.
Allsop Space plans to hold five auctions in 2012, the first of which will take place in March. See allsopspace.ie
