Savills’ opening autumn auction enjoyed a bumper success rate of 90%, with 190 lots offered and 171 sold, including four prior.
In total, £42.7m was raised at the Marriott hotel on Grosvenor Square, W1, sale on 16 September, with five properties passing the £1m mark.
The biggest sale of the day was the part-let, part-vacant five-bedroom 10 King Henry’s Road in Hampstead, NW3, which sold for £1.9m off a £1.7m guide.
Other £1m-plus sales included , a freehold block with ground-floor shops and residential above, which sold for £1.2m, well above its £800,000 guide.
An “oven-ready” investment of shops with four assured shorthold tenancy flats in Battersea, SW11, providing £78,120 annual income, sold well at £1.2m – ?a net initial yield of 5.95%.
Head of auctions Chris Coleman-Smith said the success rate was due to a strong, competitive room and a “workmanlike” catalogue, with a low level of “ritzy properties” and an average lot size of £270,000-£280,000.
He added that the take-up boded well heading into the autumn auction season, reflecting very strong buyer demand.
“The main thing about auctions is that people like to know their property will sell on the day, rather than wait months for private sales and risk losing thousands if prices fall,” he said.
Housing associations, councils, property companies and dealers made up the bulk of sellers, with receivership assets proving particularly popular.
Coleman-Smith said that while traditionally strong areas such as Fulham, SW6, performed well, demand was also strengthening in areas that had previously been seen as lagging, such has Croydon in South London and Tottenham, N17.
“I think people can see there is potential in those areas,” he said. “They are starting to balance out the lower cash value in exchange for a higher return.”
chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
