Savills raised £33.3m despite posting its lowest success rate since 2008 at its July auction as buyers continue to exercise care at auction.
The firm – which came second overall in 2013’s league table of auctioneers, below Allsop – sold 107 lots out of 141 offered. Seven lots were sold prior, taking the success rate to 76%.
Two lots sold for around £2m, including a freehold on a four-flat block with development potential on Grosvenor Avenue, N5, which sold for £2.3m.
The lot was guided at £1.4m and sold out of family ownership to a developer.
A development site in Islington, N1, currently occupied by 20 lock-up garages, sold for £2.2m off a guide price of £1.5m from administrators to a private buyer who is expected to build the site out.
A string of seven properties put up by an investor in the Midlands all sold, as did a run of six homes in Staffordshire, all purchased by the same investor.
Auctioneer Chris Coleman-Smith said: “June was a bit discouraging but I was encouraged by this sale, which was more vibrant. There has been a slight lull, but the first four or five months were very strong, and the industry is regrouping.”
Savills’ June auction raised £48.5m with a 79% success rate from 215 lots. Prior to that sale Savills had posted an average success rate of 91%, with an average of £53m raised – although this included a two-day sale in February.
The latest sale took place on 22 July at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, W1.
chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
