The first auction of 2016 turned in a 73% success rate and sales of £3m.
Butters John Bee, which covers Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire, offered a 73-lot catalogue, though seven lots were postponed.
The highest bid was for a detached three-bedroom bungalow in Congleton, Cheshire, which sold for £186,000 off a guide of £135,000-plus.
The firm’s sales totals last year ranged from £4m to £7.8m. Its January 2015 sale raised £4m from 59 lots, of which 53 sold – a 90% success rate.
Essential Information Group figures last week showed that the total number of lots fell by 5% during 2015, while sales rose by 2.6% to £4.5bn, attributed largely to a 3.4% rise in residential receipts.
Commercial stock levels fell by 18% to 623 lots in December 2015, while success rates were healthy: 76.8% for residential and 81.5% for commercial.
