Savills has raised a strong total of £42m despite a sagging success rate at the first top-tier sale of the autumn.
The auctions giant sold 72%, or 134, of the 188 lots offered. This compares with an 86.4% success rate so far in 2014 and an average of £48.4m raised.
The sale marks a recovery in terms of volumes from Savills’ July auction, which raised £35.4m with a sales rate of 76% as buyers continued to exercise caution in the room.
It will also be seen as a bellwether sale after a summer in which London saw its biggest slide in residential success rates since autumn 2009.
Land lots, as well as London stock and suburban capital properties, sold strongly, with a freehold on six homes on Camden Road, N1, selling for £3.3m – a 6.2% yield – between small property companies.
London’s satellite towns also fared well, with a freehold 31,000 sq ft office block in Luton, Bedfordshire, selling for £2.7m off a guide price of £2.5m – a circa 10% yield.
A trio of sites owned by Thames Water also sold strongly to local individuals, with the lots’ development potential catapulting prices far above guide. They were guided at £35,000 for a site in Kent, £125,000 for one in Neasden, N10, and £60,000 for a site in Chingford, E4. They sold for £82,000, £276,000 and £252,000, respectively.
A single-storey hall on a 0.4-acre site in Hounslow, Middlesex also attracted strong bidding, with faith groups pushing the price up to £700,000.
Auctioneer Chris Coleman-Smith said: “I think we’re looking at a shifting market. In London and just out of town stock went out the door really well, and the appetite is there for development land. But elsewhere, we’ve all probably got to be more cautious about what we take on the catalogue in terms of pricing.”
The auction took place at the Marriott Hotel on Duke Street, W1, on 15 September.
chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
