Based in Liverpool, Sutton Kersh Auctions has enjoyed its best-ever year for sales despite taking several auctions online due to COVID-19. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool proper auction house Sutton Kersh has sold £53m in properties in 2020 despite several auctions having to be conducted online due to COVID-19.
This is more than 17% up on the £45m achieved in 2019. In its final auction of the year on December 10, Sutton Kersh sold almost 90 properties achieving receipts of more than £7m. This takes the total number of proprieties sold this year to more than 550.
During the year it has sold 85% of the lots on offer and this figure could still rise from post-auction sales following the final event. Prior to the final auction 29 lots were sold for a total of £2.2m. 2020 will be Sutton Kersh Auctions’ best year to date.
Due to COVID-19 Kersh took its first auction online in May. More than 300 bidders registered for the event and hundreds of people looked on from across the UK to watch. That event generated more than £7m in sales.
At the December auction a number of lots sold above their guide price. They included a town house in Aintree in Liverpool, which had a guide price of £35,000, selling for £80,000. A property in east Liverpool that has been converted into five apartments sold for £200,000, £35,000 above its guide price.
Kersh said renovation/refurbishment projects were very popular again, both in Liverpool and further afield. Lot 88 in Scunthorpe, a three-bed mid-terrace in need of repair and renovations, had a guide price of just £15,000 and sold for £48,000.
Associate director Cathy Holt said: “What an incredible way for us to finish the year, taking us to over 550 properties sold in the last 12 months. The value of sold properties has increased this year by 76% on the previous year and we have also seen a 6% increase in the total number of properties we have sold.
“To be up on last year’s figures in a year overshadowed by a global pandemic is a true testament to my team and how hard they work to deliver the best results for our vendors. It was also interesting to see such a high demand in a single postcode – L15 in Wavertree – in the latest auction.”