Last Tuesday, 15th July, 2008, we held our monthly property auction at Henley Golf & Country Club. In excess of 150 people were in attendance for the 6 Lots being offered. Firstly, Richard Abbey, Partner & Auctioneer, put up for sale 6.02 acres of pasture land with planning consent for a substantial stable block and strong bidding from all parts of the room resulted in an excellent figure of £81,000 being achieved. Richard Abbey then offered for sale The Lodge, Beaudesert Park, Henley in Arden with its 2.9 acres. There was an opening bid of £350,000 and after strong competition from various parties, the gavel finally came down at a very impressive £411,000. The 15 or so acres of pastureland near Barston did not reach the reserve but a substantial offer was received at the end of the auction with a contract then being signed in the room. The 3.35 acres of land at Bordon Hill, on the edge of Stratford-upon-Avon failed to meet the reserve price but after the sale, negotiations were commenced with two very interested parties. The Offices and Workshops at Umberslade Road near Earlswood was withdrawn close to the reserve and a sale was concluded with a contract being signed in the room at a very reasonable figure before the end of the evening. The final property Richard Abbey offered was Howard House, Meriden Road, Hampton in Arden and strong bidding took the price close to the reserve and this property is now available for sale by private treaty.

Peter Cornford, Senior Partner of the practice, was realistic about the general market conditions. Four out of the six Lots did sell with binding contracts before the night came to an end, so the auction market approach worked well for these individual Lots and there are certainly well funded purchasers that can be tempted to buy one off properties as they realise opportunities for such properties do not come round very often and therefore they can be encouraged to bid up and buy rather than miss a one off opportunity.

With the month of August on the horizon, John Earle & Son's next auction is scheduled for 23rd September and already listed is a bungalow and cattery with a licence for up to 150 cats, the bungalow requires renovation and there are various blocks of pasture land.