A number of high-value sales helped push the average sale price to £500,000 at Savills’ latest auction. The live-streamed sale saw 66 assets find buyers, reflecting a 70% success rate.
A residential investment in Enfield, north London (lot 21), sold for £2.5m in the 5 October sale, helping the firm to a £33m total. The property comprises 17 flats let on assured shorthold tenancies and produces an income of £138,700 per annum, a yield of 5.5%.
Other £1m-plus lots to sell on the day included a first-floor flat in Paddington, W2 (lot 9), offered on behalf of Westminster City Council, which fetched £1m.
A site on The Broadway in Newbury, Berkshire (lot 48), with consent for a 72-flat scheme, sold for £1.8m, while a vacant former care home with land in Dartford, Kent (lot 93, pictured), sold for £1.65m.
A student accommodation block providing 203 en suite bedrooms in Guildford, Surrey, was guided at £2.8m and sold prior on behalf of a housing association. It produces £984,096 per annum.
Paul Mooney, auctions director at Savills, said: “To have ended the day achieving our highest ever average sale price is a really good result and reflects the high quality of stock we had to sell.
“We brought to market several £1m+ lots of varied asset classes which performed particularly well – everything from a leasehold investment opportunity on a student campus and a development site with planning through to a care home on a five-acre plot and a long leasehold interest shop unit.”
Activity across London and the immediate commuter belt was strong. “The cross section of opportunities for a range of buyer types meant that we had high levels of bidding activity throughout the day,” Mooney said.
“This was particularly apparent for freehold commercial mixed-use properties, and what has been clear from recent sales is that when these kinds of opportunities come along, there is real interest for them among buyers.”
A clear example was a virtual freehold on High Road in Finchley, N12 (lot 86). The corner retail property with development potential was guided at £1.35m and sold prior. It produces an income of £100,000 per annum. The tenants are Argos and EE. However, Argos has recently ceased trading from the store and is currently looking to assign the lease.
Savills has so far raised nearly £275m this year and has two more sales before the year end.
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