Red-letter sale day for property auctioneers

PRIME real estate worth hundreds of millions of rands went under the hammer on June 29 in the largest auction measured on sale lot volume conducted by specialist property auctioneers, the High Street Auction Co.

More than 50 properties in 41 sale lots, including office parks, retail centres, industrial developments, residential manor houses and even a cemetery, completed the sale catalogue for the auction held at Summer Place in Joburg’s Hyde Park.

Even at lead auctioneer Joff van Reenen’s swift pace, the sheer volume of the catalogue made for a marathon sale of more than two and a half hours.

Among the sale highlights were:

Six blocks of executive business suites in the secure Tuscany Office Park, in Rivonia in the north of Joburg, near the N1 and the Witkoppen Interchange. The strongly tenanted Sections 5 to 10 went under the hammer as property fund-listed individual auction lots, but were eventually bought by a single buyer for a collective R74.55 million;

A South African auction first and a heavenly business opportunity: a 12 500 plot private cemetery in Winterveld AH, located in the North West Province but falling within the zoning boundaries of the City of Tshwane. The hammer on this fiercely contested lot finally fell at R5.06m to a buyer from Pretoria;

More than 25 000m² of agricultural land in Midrand, one of the most desirable development regions in Gauteng because of its location midway between Joburg and Pretoria. The land, with easy access to the M1 and arterial routes, can be rezoned for high-density residential development. Many bidders were interested in this lot, which went for R13.2m;

A motor showroom in prime position on Bram Fischer Drive in Randburg, which, as a corporate disposal lot, sold for an impressive R16,5m; and

A seafront apartment at Sheffield Beach in Ballito on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, offering three bedrooms, an expansive openplan entertainment area and underground parking. This was bought at the auction for R3.19m.

Van Reenen says the record auction attracted more than 350 people to the sale floor, and the bumper crowd encouraged even more competitive bidding.

“It will take a while to do the final sums but it’s already clear this will go down in the High Street Auction Co’s history books as a red-letter sale day.

“The fact that the current wealth of market supply is being met by equal demand indicates there is still money flowing through our sluggish economy, which is also extremely encouraging.”

Six blocks of executive business suites in the Tuscany Office Park, in Rivonia in the north of Johannesburg, went under the hammer as property fund-listed individual auction lots, but were eventually snapped up by a single buyer for a collective R74.55...