Flats feature prominently in tough sale during hard times

BLOCKS of flats featured prominently in a tough sale at the AuctionInc multiproperty auction at the Houghton Golf Club yesterday.

Auctioneer Eddie Winterstein said the tough market conditions were mainly due to the strikes which are discouraging investment in SA.

Tribeca Lofts with 14 one-bedroom apartments at 174 Jeppe Street received a hammer price of R2,7m, and 27 units in a block with an income of R556,284 a year, on Frere Road, Lorentzville, fetched R2.7m.

There were no bids for four individual units with a total gross lettable area of 800m² at 27 Bond Street, Ferndale Extension.

A building with three retail shops and two flats in Birchleigh, Kempton Park, with a gross income of R160,000 a year, won a top bid of R680,000.

A Johannesburg building with a gross lettable area of 2,000m² at 219 Commissioner Street, offering residential conversion and signage potential, was knocked down for R2.6m.

There was little demand for a boutique hotel in Houghton Estate. The hotel, with seven en suite bedrooms, patio and pool on a 2,055m² site, was passed over.

Also on offer were two corner stands measuring 3.5ha with retail and commercial and retail zoning on Kiaat Road, Bredell, Kempton Park. The lot fetched R2.75m. Prime development land of 2.7ha at Westbrook Place, Strathavon, Sandton, attracted a best bid of R8m, which was deemed too low and the lot was passed over.

A commercial showroom in Springs received a pre-auction bid of R2.6m. There were no further bids and the pre-auction bid held.