Savills has hailed its real-time virtual ballroom sales a success after raising £270m from its auctions this year.
At its last sale of the year, which took place on 16 December, the auctioneer sold 80 of 109 lots offered, raising £27.5m.
Key successes at the sale included a converted period town house in Forest Hill, SE23, most recently used as offices and consulting rooms for a charity but with potential to be converted back to residential. It was the first time the building had come to market in 45 years and sold for just over £1m. A detached former care home in Horsham, West Sussex (main picture), also sold well, fetching £850,000, while a two-bedroom mid-terrace house in need of modernisation in Herne Hill, SE24, sold for £515,000.
Head of Savills Auctions, Christopher Coleman-Smith, said: “Going into 2020 no one could have foreseen this year, the pandemic’s effect on the industry and the ways in which we would have to adapt. In March, we made a choice, we knew that ballroom sales were not an option but chose to give our bidders and vendors the next best thing, a live-streamed sale.
“In a year of great uncertainty, we swam against the tide of the wider auctions market and have had a comparatively successful year. We know that there are lots of vendors looking to sell before the end of the year, as well as bidders looking to take advantage of the upcoming stamp duty holiday deadline. We will be hosting several auctions at the start of next year for this very reason.”
Savills’ first auction of 2021 takes place on 9 February.
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