Sutton Kersh Auctions auctions marks 20 years of Liverpool property auctions with latest event generating more than £6m. Tony McDonough reports
Sutton Kersh Auctions in Liverpool is celebrating 20 years of property auctions with its latest event generating more than £6m in sales.
This takes its total auction receipts so far in 2022 to more than £50m. Its latest online event was the sixth of the year with 449 properties sold so far. One lot at the latest auction, a semi-detached property in Walton, sold for £32,000 above asking price.
James Kersh founded Sutton Kersh Auctions in 2002. Then a commercial property agent, he had become frustrated with the time it took for deals to exchange. He was fascinated with the fast and more transparent transaction process.
He said: “My Father encouraged me to speak to a friend who was an auctioneer. We both felt there was an opportunity in the Liverpool property market and within our business. At the time, most residential investment property was being sold by auction and this is still the case today.
“I remember setting up an answer phone and placing an advert in the Liverpool Echo to try to build our mailing list prior to our first auction. We literally had to beg for instructions at that time. We got a great lot of listings and sold 100% of the lots we offered.”
In June 2003 it was announced that Liverpool was to be the European Capital of Culture in 2008. This sparked renewed interest in the city’s property market. It reached a fever pitch at a Sutton Kersh auction at the Adelphi Hotel in 2004.
Speaking in 2012, James said the auction had been a “highlight” of the early years. More than 1,000 would-be investors turned up for the event and some found themselves locked out of the room.
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He added: “We have been lucky to have grown the business for the last 20 years to become the leading property auction house in Merseyside.
“Cathy Holt and our experienced team have the extensive experience to navigate vendors and purchasers through the auction process which makes vendors and buyers both recommend us and work with us again.”
Another lot at the latest auction saw interest from bidders across the UK. A three-bedroom town house in Maghull had a guide price of £120,000 but sold, following a bidding war, for £167,500. Sutton Kersh’s next auction will take place in December.