Savills’ 2024 auction total tops £810m

Savills raised £62m from its final auction of 2024, bringing the total for the year to £810m –  the highest amount raised in the department’s history and a 42% increase on 2023. The auctioneer’s December sale featured Savills’ largest catalogue for the month, with more than 190 commercial, residential and mixed-use lots offered. The sale concluded with a 68% success rate, driven by notable interest in higher-value properties. A total of 14 lots achieved sales exceeding £1m. Leading the commercial assets to go under the hammer was a leasehold mid-terrace property in Covent Garden, WC2. The leasehold, five-storey, mixed-use asset is let to Honest Burger on the ground floor with vacant office space above. It sold for just over £2.8m. In Bristol, a freehold industrial investment and vacant trade counter unit with development potential let at £47,475 per annum, achieved nearly £250,000 more than its guide to sell at more than £1.2m. In the residential asset class, a mid-terrace property in Earls Court, SW5, arranged as 15 bedsits over basement, ground and three upper floors, sold for £2.9m, while a terrace of 26 maisonettes in Rotherhithe, SE16, producing £96,500 per annum, went for £1.7m. Robin Howeson, head of Savills auctions, said: “These results are particularly phenomenal given the headwinds faced over the last 12 months, most notably the general election and subsequent change in government. The sale highlighted the buoyancy of the commercial and development markets, and while the residential market showed slightly more hesitancy, we expect declining interest rates to boost sentiment in this sector in the new year.” He added: “Over the year, we have brought over 3,300 properties to the market across 16 auctions, which have been held across 25 individual days – a remarkable feat and a testament to the success of our online live-stream formula underpinned by the dedication and determination of our growing team.”