Booming property auctions to improve real estate

Commercial property auctions are proving an unlikely bright spot in Britain's real estate market where a steep drop in sterling has attracted overseas buyers and local investors are as yet unfazed by potential fallout from Brexit. Retail investors quickly pulled money out of commercial property funds just after the vote, causing a temporary freeze on 18 billion pounds ($22.38 billion) in assets. Allsop, Britain's biggest auctioneer, achieved its biggest sale volume in a decade at a sale on Oct. 10. Rival Acuitus on Oct. 13 recorded its largest-ever auction since spinning out of Jones Lang LaSalle in 2010. Allsop has raised 480 million pounds from five sales this year, nearly 25 percent more than over the same period in 2015. "People have asked whether the market might be approaching a peak, but sales like these show we are only just getting out of the blocks", Auctioneer Richard Auterac said, pointing to a steady shift in private investor interest from buy-to-let to commercial real estate.