Agency breaks tradition by holding first-ever August auction

In another sign of the buoyant housing market, estate agency Savills is breaking tradition by staging its first ever August auction today.

A series of surprisingly-strong indicators across the market - reflecting high numbers of buyers, more homes coming to sale, and strong performances at auctions in recent weeks - persuaded the agency to make an exception to its August 'no auction' policy. 

“Traditionally August is a quieter month with people not necessarily being around to buy or sell; however with less people going away this year we’re expecting this to present far less of an issue” explains Christopher Coleman-Smith, head of Savills Auctions team.

“Our July sale saw over 100 lots offered and demand was demonstrably there from vendors for another summer sale. And despite the new ways of conducting auctions the same advantages ring true that you are in a unique position of purchasing your property in one day, unheard of in other areas of the market” he adds.

In recent months Savills has held four remote auctions, all in accordance with government guidelines, raising a total of almost £91m overall. 

Today’s August auction will be its fifth using a new virtual format allowing bidders to participate remotely while following the action in real time on a live stream.

The auctioneer takes bids at a virtual rostrum as they would in the auction room. 

“It’s been a year of firsts for us as it has for many due to the circumstances brought about by Covid–19 - we held our first remote auction back in March and now we’re holding our fifth live streamed sale and our first August sale” adds Coleman-Smith.