PROPERTY buyers have moved online after a Cumbrian company held a digital auction – with sales possibly exceeding a ‘normal’ auction.

Auction House Cumbria holds seven auctions every year, normally selling around 70-80 properties from throughout the region, and into Dumfries and Galloway.

When the lockdown was imposed due to the coronavirus, the firm decided to press ahead with its April auction, in a high-tech format – and they were delighted at the results, which also raised nearly £3,000 for the NHS.

Auctioneer and director Colin West said: “We had listed all the properties in readiness for our April auction. It is normally a room auction where we get 40 to 60 people.

“Because of the lockdown, we could not carry on and have a public auction. We thought we would have to postpone all the lots. However, the vendors wanted us to carry on. For a lot of them, the properties need to be sold within a period of time.

“So we moved the whole operation to an online auction – we call it a live stream online auction. The stage, and the auctioneer and the bidding are all the same as if you were in the room, but it was streamed live.”

There were three ways of bidding at the auction, said Mr West. There were telephone and proxy bids, which are normally available, but this time there was also the live stream on the company’s website with bidding in real time.

“Normally we have a week’s viewing schedule where we show people around the properties," said Mr West.

"We were apprehensive, thinking ‘who is going to buy properties without viewing them?’

“We did virtual tours on the properties and supplied floor plans, although people normally like to look in cupboards and tap on walls!”

But despite their apprehension, the firm was delighted to get 116 people registering online, plus 60 telephone bidders.

In total, 29 out of the 32 properties at the auction were sold – a ratio of over 90 per cent. Normally, before the lockdown, the sale ratio is closer to 80 per cent.

“We had bids from Australia, Canada and Geneva in Switzerland,” said Mr West.

Lots that did particularly well included a property in Main Street, Grange Over Sands, which had a guide price of £65,000 and sold for £133,000. Vacant land at Harker near Carlisle had a guide price of £55,000 and sold for £109,000. And a house in Walker Road, Salterbeck, Workington, with a guide price of £25,000 sold for £47,000.

“We get a lot of London investors buying properties because of the capital values in this area," he said.

"The rental yield is far higher than in other parts of the country, especially for commercial properties.”

And for every property that sold at the auction, the firm gave £100 to the NHS, which amounted to £2,900.

“We are all affected by the coronavirus, it just seemed the right thing to do.

“On the back of the April auction, we are giving instructions for the next one in June.”

He said that buyers at the auctions tend to bid for a number of properties – either they are potential landlords, developers or are looking for an investment.

“A recent thing is the Bank of Mum and Dad, or grandmothers and grandfathers, to get their kids on the property ladder.”

After the hammer has fallen on a successful bid, the winning bidder has to pay a 10 per cent deposit and then 28 days before paying the full amount.

“There are two types of property," he said.

"Properties that are in need of refurbishment – it might need a lick of paint or a full refurbishment, or a property where there is a tenant and someone is looking to buy it as an investment.

“Estate agents are effectively on hold at the moment – they have just pressed the pause button, but properties can still be bought and sold in this lockdown period.”

He said that after the lockdown has ended, the auction will return to having a public saleroom, but the live stream will remain in place.

“It may well go totally internet based and if it does we will react to that. We have learned quite a lot about what to expect with live streaming. We have not had to furlough staff apart from part time viewers, so we have been able to maintain employment. We are all working from home so it is another learning curve. We have all been using Zoom for the last four or five weeks.”