Belfast, Antrim -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/16/2012 -- Fancy owning a bank or a police station? Businesses from town centres across the country are being auctioned off at bargain prices. The bank and police station are up for auction next month, and if that’s not your cup of tea, four pubs can also be bought by ‘private treaty’. The auction, run by Osborne King is similar to some held recently in the Republic, and is a real indication of the huge downturn in Northern Ireland’s property market. A source from Stream Advertising, a Belfast-based sales and marketing company commented, saying, “It really just shows how far the property market has dropped. These are some fantastic buildings going on sale for prices that would have been unbelievable five years ago.”
Many other commercial properties and town centre sites are up for sale, including repossessed properties and unwanted land which the owners hope to move on at a profit. One of the properties is the former Newtownstewart PSNI station, which closed in August 2009, which is on sale with a reserve of £70,000 for a 1.6 acre site. In Aughnacloy, the former Northern Bank building is on sale starting at £50,000. “A lot of large businesses and even public services are downsizing heavily as a reaction to the economic crisis,” said our source from Stream Advertising, “This means they’ll often be trying to get rid of buildings, and do so quickly, just to recoup some cash. It presents a great opportunity for anyone interested in investing in some property which is a little more interesting than the usual.”
The pubs and restaurants are for sale in more traditional ways. The recession has hit the licensed trade hard and many pubs and bars have closed over the last three or four years. Dozens of these are now available to new owners. This week, the First and Last in Banbridge is for sale, as well as a former social club on the Shankill Road in Belfast.
The Osborne King auction is to be held on the 8th of March in Belfast, and will be the third this year. “It is a simple sale in terms of the product,” says associate director Mark Carron, “We did sell a police station in Coagh in the last auction in September. It is a mixture of high street properties and homes. We have sold a number of banks for the Northern and there are a number for sale at the moment." He added, "In Great Britain they are held every month. It is a smaller market in Northern Ireland but we are looking at doing them on a quarterly basis."
“It’s certainly a sign that the property market is nowhere near out of the woods,” said our source at Stream Advertising, “It will definitely be a benefit to the economy though to see some of those businesses bought over and possibly rejuvenated into something profitable.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17029948