Clifton villa sells for R90m in auction price record

A WINNING bid of R90 million on a luxury Clifton villa smashed South Africa's residential auction price record by more than R30m last week. Joff van Reenen, director and lead auctioneer for The High Street Auction Company, said in the same sale the.company auctioned off 31 lots of property from Clifton to Ballito and the Magaliesberg with a total value of more than R500m. Van Reenen said the previous residential record bid was on a house in Sandhurst, Joburg, for R54m. He said after an accelerated market ing campaign in conjunction with Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty, the bankinstructed Clifton sale of the Nettleton Ridge house provoked "live responses" from 29 countries, with more than 5000 views of the house on the.company website prior to the sale. "The hammer fell at R90m, and the sale is now under confirmation for a fiveday period. Confirmation periods are normal within the auction industry and not exclusive to this property." Van Reenen said Thursday's auction of the Clifton house to a certain extent corrected the market in the area. He said the house was previously on the market for R150m and not even buyers with high value foreign currency to spend were prepared to consider that price. Van Reenen said a Clifton resident made the highest bid. "Its someone who lives in Clifton and wants to stay there, so the property should remain in South African hands." Lew Geffen, chairman of Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty said: "We've seen this time and time again that when a trophy home.comes on the market as a bankinstructed sale it will always attract the right buyer at the right price because it corrects the market. "Mark Thatcher's house in Cape Town sold under similar circumstances and an auction is an outstanding way to ensure a quick, effective and marketrelated result: RECORD BUY: A luxury 'trophy' Clifton villa with sea views and infinity pool was bought by a South African resi dent last week in an auction that attracted international attention