As is usually the case, a large portion of the industry took a break in August, with only 51 auctions held across the UK. The auctioneers that were active enjoyed a broadly successful month, with overall lots offered and sold up 18% and 20% respectively, and total raised increasing by almost 12% to £77m.

The vast majority of the 1,031 lots offered last month were residential lots, and these saw increases of 21% on last year – from 801 to 970 lots. Residential sales climbed 24%, from 568 lots to 703 lots, whilst residential market revenues gained £10m on last year – a rise of 15%.

Allsop were back with a bang from the summer holidays and held two very successful auctions this month. At their 13th September residential auction they defied wider trends in the market to raise over £50m and achieve a 79% success rate. This is against a current industry average of 69%.

The total raised reflects the number of investors returning to the ballroom this autumn with a positive ‘back to business sentiment’ despite overall caution in the market.

Investors saw 169 lots go under the hammer. The largest lot to sell was a sought-after unbroken terrace of 11 houses in Stepney, East London. With three houses vacant, eight let and producing £268,000 per annum, 1-11, Anchor Terrace E1 achieved £7.5m from a guide price of £7.0m-£7.25m.