Savills raises £190m at auctions in first quarter

Savills raised £45m from 143 lots at its latest auction, on 19 March, taking its first-quarter total to £190m, a 40% uplift on a year ago. The March auction saw a 78% success rate. Residential lots included a Grade II listed mid-terrace family home in Islington, which sold for £1.09m, and a three-bedroom mid-terrace house in Hackney, which sold for £825,000. A three-story building in Pimlico with asset management and development potential sold for £990,000, while a half-acre plot of development land in Wimbledon sold for £1.15m, £855,000 more than its guide price.  Robin Howeson, head of Savills Auctions, said: “Our first three auctions of the year were largely driven by sellers looking to dispose of their assets before the end of the financial year, and so we expected to see some signs of the market slowing and a slight decrease in the number of properties for sale and buoyant buyers. And yet, [this week’s] sale continued to exceed our expectations, with the sale of 143 lots and raising in excess of £45m – comparable to the other auctions we’ve held so far this year.”