A residential farm achieved more than 40% over its guide on Wednesday, in what GVM auctioneer Tom Crosse described as a ‘game battle’ between two bidders at an auction.
Consisting of a period farmhouse, a yard, and 17ac of prime land with road frontage, Newboro Villa, Patrickswell, Co Limerick attracted significant interest pre-auction. It was guided at €550,000.
An opening online bid of €400,000 via the LSL platform was quickly countered by an in-person bid of €410,000 in the Woodlands Hotel, Adare, Co Limerick.
Bidding then stalled for a minute, only resuming after a sharp reminder from the auctioneer that the farm would be withdrawn, if the reserve wasn't met.
Continuing in a similar fashion for another four minutes, the price slowly pushed past the original guide of €550,000, and on to €570,000.
From here, proceedings sped up, and a quick-fire exchange moved the needle to €600,000, at which point the auctioneer called a brief recess to consult with the vendors, before returning to declare the property on the market.
A flurry of intense bidding followed, pushing the price to €660,000.
Online bidder
“Does anyone else want to bid before I pull the chain?,” asked Tom Crosse, raising the gavel and surveying the room.
This prompted a response from the online bidder, and another surge of bidding ensued, bringing the price past €700,000.
At €750,000, the hammer went up again.
“It’s been slow and it’s been sure, but it’s been good”, said Crosse.
“I’ll leave the hammer up for a little bit longer, you never know.”
He wasn’t wrong, as the online bidder came back before the third call with a bid of €755,000.
The exchange continued to €780,000, where Crosse gave one final call, bringing the gavel down with gusto to a spirited round of applause, as the in-room bidder, a well-known local farmer, secured the farm at more than 40% over its original guide.
“It was a very game battle,” said Crosse afterwards, “and I would like to complement the online bidder and the purchaser.”
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