Savills’ decision to hold its first ever August auction paid off, with the total rising to more than £20m, including sales post-auction.
The live-streamed sale on 25 August ultimately saw 51 lots find buyers from 59 offered, an 86% success rate. Thirteen lots were withdrawn prior.
The team made the decision to add the extra sale after seeing that demand was demonstrably there from both vendors and bidders for a further summer sale when they were building their July catalogue.
Highlights from the August sale included a vacant end-of-terrace house in Battersea, SW11, (lot 5), which was offered on behalf of Wandsworth Council. The six-bedroom house sold for £1.6m, just ahead of its guide.
In Clerkenwell, EC1, a vacant three-bedroom terraced house (lot 30) sold for £1.1m.
A 1,880 sq ft plot of land in a residential area in Orpington, Kent, (lot 54) sold for £82,000. In Wallington, Surrey, a smaller plot of 1,280 sq ft (lot 39) sold for £134,000.
Lots which went unsold include a vacant terraced house with four bedrooms in Herne Hill, SE24 (lot 18), which is available at £775,000.
Despite there being a fall in value of residential property sold at auction across the whole market, Savills has now sold more than £154m of property at auction during 2020. This is more than 35% ahead of the same period in 2019.
Christopher Coleman-Smith, head of Savills’ auctions team, said: “Going into our first ever August auction we hoped it would be a success but couldn’t be certain due to a lack of precedent. With circumstances meaning lots of people couldn’t travel, we hoped we would be able to capture bidders who may otherwise have been abroad. We were delighted with the results of the sale. From bidders, we saw strong demand for houses in central London and the surrounds. There was also competitive bidding for several commercial lots.
“We had a mixture of buyers but did see a significant number of owner occupiers looking to buy homes that they can both put their own stamp on and add value to. The 59 lots on offer made up a good quality concentrated catalogue that attracted over 700 bidders throughout the day. Interestingly, 100 of these were via telephone bid, an option not catered to by all auction styles.”
Savills’ next auction will take place remotely on 22 September.
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