Savills' May property auction in London proved a great success, with more than 500 buyers in the auction room. Some 85 per cent of auction lots sold, raising almost £27 million.

Chris-Coleman-Smith, head of Savills auctions, comments: "These results prove that buying at auction can be a great way to acquire property, whether it is to build up an investment portfolio or for first-time buyers; it can be a more viable way of getting on the property ladder."

In Chiswick Common Road, Chiswick, a well-located corner building with a retail unit (let at £13,750 a year) and two one-bedroom vacant flats created a lot of excitement in the room. The lot was guided at £675,000 and sold for £695,000. In fashionable Maida Vale, a good-sized, two-bedroom flat with use of communal gardens was guided at £225,000 and sold for £430,000.

A large three-bedroom split-level London flat on a regulated tenancy sold to a professional investment company for £589,000. The flat is in Marylebone, near Oxford Street and Hyde Park.

Yesterday's Acuitus auction featured a 6,905 sq ft Marks & Spencer Simply Food outlet in Gerrards Cross among its 48 lots. In addition to retail, banking, office and industrial investments, the sale also featured two pubs, ground rent investments, properties in receivership, a data centre and a chance to acquire a freehold in the heart of the City of London. Number 69 King William Street is a 2,900 sq ft prime retail and office investment which currently produces £70,792 a year. It was offered at a guide price of £950,000.

Interviewed in advance of the sale, Acuitus auctioneer Richard Auterac said: "with guide prices from £5,000 to £2.7 million, projected purchase yields of four per cent to 18 per cent and a wide range of asset types on offer, this sale provides extensive opportunities for investors".