IT’S GOOD to see that Dublin agent Savills will be getting in on the act with the new-style mass auctions which are now driving the property market.

London agents Allsop got the ball rolling last month with the sale of 80 tantalising distressed properties which were snapped up at seriously discounted prices.

The success of that venture took many people by surprise given that the first mass auction in May 2010 by Real Estate Alliance proved a bit of damp squib.

The problem was that many of the properties up for grabs weren’t seen as good value by buyers or they were located in less than prime areas.

Auctions have been more or less dead in the water for the past three years but the introduction of the mass auction formula by Allsops and its Irish affiliate Space has set an interesting precedent which is ripe to be adopted by other estate agents.

Savills Ireland has got in there first with the promise of around 100 investment properties next September with low reserves and prime locations in Dublin.

It seems that auctions may still be the best way of establishing true values in a market where uncertainty still reigns.