Ray White continues to carve out iso auction deals

RAY WHITE members continued to hammer out deals across the country today with our innovative isolation auctions producing some incredible sales across the leading group.

No doubt the strength of the 118 year old group is its evolution but the fundamentals of auctioneering remain despite the move to “private online auctions”.

Nationally, Ray White auction agents cleared 33 per cent of all stock under the hammer today but the campaign clearance number climbed to a healthy 57 per cent once all the sold priors were accounted for in this week’s tally.

According to Ray White’s auction data the campaign clearance is more than 10 per cent higher than it was a year ago, in the weeks heading into the Federal Election of 2019.

In the virtual world, the group had 2.8 registered bidders per lot with most buyers reporting how much they loved the ability to bid from the comfort of their own home.

Ray White Group Managing Director Dan White said it was no surprise the network had fewer properties proceeded to auction, with lower clearance rates.

“It was understandably a more challenging week. However there were plenty of great results recorded for our customers across the country, and overall registered bidder numbers were consistent with recent weeks. We know that we will need to work twice as hard for our customers in the weeks ahead to deliver the results they deserve,” Mr White said.

Ray White New South Wales Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said the ‘new normal’ online auction platform had been a tremendous success.

“Buyers certainly aren’t afraid to participate in the new digital world and are willing to transact, of course subject to the vendor’s expectations,” Mr Pattaro said.

“Our strong auction campaign clearance rate is clear evidence that buyers are looking to secure properties prior to avoid further competition.

“We were still averaging a preliminary figure of three registered bidders per auction and this highlights that buyers are out there looking to secure property right now.”

Up on the stunning Killcare Peninsula, Ray White Killcare held its first virtual auction today and it went off without a hitch.

At 175 Heath Road on the aptly named Pretty Beach, NSW, Principal Lea Turner and Sales and Marketing Manager Jeremy Martin had held more than 15 private inspections with local families looking for their dream home location.

“This was our very first online auction and it ran a lot smoother than we could have hoped and we’re delighted to have embraced innovation to sell for our vendor,” Ms Turner said.

There were four registered bidders who pushed the price up from its starting price of 41 million to sell for $1.065 million under the hammer of Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro in the corporate office in Sydney.

“The market is actually really good for us at the moment. Out of two properties today we sold one prior and one under the hammer so things are positive for us at the moment.

“The key during these times is to keep a positive focus moving forward - we have to focus on what we can actually control and we’re still seeing the enquiries flow through.

“The fact is, people will always buy and sell property no matter what the climate is, it’s just up to us to do our job and deliver the best possible service to our clients.”

In a herculean effort Ray White Wetherill Park agent David Perco today sold 23 Hinkler Street, Smithfield for $728,000 at 3pm to one lucky registered bidder who only viewed the property for the first time at 11am today.

“The vendor is happy to get the sale done but the best thing about this sale is the buyers saw the property first at 11am today. They called me today at 10am for a private inspection and then sent through a phone registration.”

Ray White auctioneer James Kerley had set up his purpose built virtual studio in Lavender Bay to conduct his online auctions.

“Innovation is the order of the day and I think now is truly such an exciting time as we have 118 years of systems and auctioneering at Ray White which have not been thrown out, they have just been digitized. The agent still helps the buyers and the auctioneer can see the buyers on the screen and they can see me and we can go into private calls for any frank discussions to get to where a deal can be done. Our strength is our evolution but the fundamentals are so valuable.”

Ray White Epping Principal Catherine Li and Sales Agent Scott Baxter told sold 2/19 Deakin Street, West Ryde, NSW for $1,150,000 at a virtual auction.

There was three active registered bidders who kicked off the bidding at $1,000,000. A total of eight bids were lobbed electronically by the keen first home buyers.

“We had good competitive bidding between the three registered bidders - and interestingly - all three of them were looking to buy their first property,” Ms Li said.

“This was our first online auction and we found it really easy to deal with and I have to say it was made a lot easier by having an experienced auctioneer at the helm.

“We had a lot of online training beforehand so we were able to deliver a smooth experience for our buyers and sellers - it was certainly a success today.

“Our market is still pretty good. What we’re seeing is the quality of buyers is undeterred by the current climate. An example of this is another property we’ve had on the market for just over a week where 10 private inspectors have already requested a contract.”

One of the most exciting auctions of the day was when Ray White Parramatta Group Associate Director and Sales Executive Rowan Thredgold today sold 51 Railway Street, Granville for $821,000 after holding some 35+ private inspections.

There were 10 registered bidders, mostly developers and owner-occupiers, who kicked the bidding off at $600,000.

A staggering 41 bids later and the property sold to a developer.

“There’s not a huge amount of new stock coming to market at the moment and the number of registered bidders we had shows how much competition is out there,” Mr Thredgold said.

“This one was the perfect example of what auctions work because at the end of the day, it was a solitary $1,000 bid that won it for the developer that purchased it.

“This was personally my first online auction and it’s great in the current climate that we have a facility where bidders and buyers can still compete in an open and transparent forum.

“There’s certainly not a shortage of buyers out there right now and a lot of them are ready financially and looking to pounce on a property that suits their needs.”

Ray White Victoria/Tasmania Chief Auctioneer Matt Condon said this week marked the very first week Ray White Victoria conducted 100 per cent of auctions online, with great success.

“Although the auction landscape has changed, it’s great to see so much of the atmosphere, emotion and competition that we’ve been used to at an on-site auction transfer seamlessly into the online space,” Mr Condon said.

“Today, one thing that was very noticeable was that registered bidders were slightly hesitant to start the auction. However, once bidding started, momentum quickly picked up with buyers actively bidding to secure their desired property.

“Again, when a property was announced on the market and selling, we continued to see bidding and competition past that point, and most importantly, we’ve seen some exceptional results today achieved for our clients in a safe environment.”

Ray White Werribee held its first virtual auction today with great success with a first home buyer winning the keys to 14 Cormorant Cres, Werribee for $370,000.

Principal Michelle Chick said there were five registered bidders vying for the modest three bedroom brick and tile home on 584sqm. “Two bidders actually signed up in last hour before the auction,” she said.

“Essential workers were very confident moving forward to buy. From our perspective there was a lot to get head around but the fact that we can still do one on one private inspections worked quite well. We have been meeting buyers on-site with gloves, masks, hand sanitiser and making sure to keep the 1.5m distance.”

“The virtual auction went amazingly, we had 14 people online and it just went very smoothly.”

“The price attracted buyers to the house, especially with the first home buyers. Werribee is an affordable market for first home buyers and investors. We’ve seen more investors coming back into the market in the past week as well.”

Three bidders were active in the auction and there were 28 bids in total in the auction which lasted 25 minutes and the price was $19,000 over the vendor’s reserve.

“Our buyers adapted quickly to the new technology and everyone was at home except the auctioneer Matt Condon who was in the corporate office.” Including their sold priors, Werribee sold four from the seven they had scheduled for auction today.

The office used the Real Time Agent platform, and they have 10 more auctions booked this month.

“Our office calls more auctions than anyone in this area combined and now this ban has made it harder so I suspect we’ll be booking more sales by private treaty now. We have two choices, we either keep going, or we stop. I am going to keep going,” said Dom Belfiore or Ray White Werribee.

The first home buyer Cassandra Martin of Sunshine said she was very excited and relieved after the auction concluded.

“I was very excited and very relieved when the hammer came down and I realised it was mine,” said the mother of two, after searching for a home for two months.

“I was very nervous to buy a home but it all sort of happened so quick and smoothly.

“It ended up being very good and it was my first auction ever and the agents were very helpful and clear.”

At 17/374 Warrigal Rd, Cheltenham, Ray White Cheltenham agent Kevin Chokshi sold the unit for $585,000 after 14 bids to a young family who lives nearby. With four registered bidders, the bidding kicked off at $480,000.

“We had quite a few enquiries and after the lockdown the only people we had through were pin private inspections so it was people who were genuinely interested. The real buyers were all there,” Mr Chokshi said.

“We are really well placed to adjust to the new format. All our systems are Cloud based so that’s been handy. We didn't prepare for apocalypse but all the work the group has done over the years has definitely paid off and the owners are extremely happy.

“This is the sort of property that attracts multiple buyer pools, investors, first home buyers and families and it’s in a good spot, central location and good price point. There;s not many new properties coming onto the market. The buyers who are out looking, it’s put a pause on what they can buy. “

Sellers Evan and Cheryl Papadopoulos said Kevin Chokski “was very professional and a great entertainer”.

“We’re happy about the result considering the climate right now. We weren’t sure about selling but we did and the result was a massive positive. This morning I was very nervous but when we looked out the window and I saw the wet, miserable cold weather I thought well it can’t be any worse than that. I’ve bought a few properties in this kind of weather to my benefit. The result was quite positive.”

Ray White Queensland Chief Auctioneer Mitch Peereboom said it was an incredible week with members across the state embracing the ‘new normal’ online auction platform.

“We certainly didn’t see the innovation deterring any buyers who wanted to bid and wanted to be involved in our auctions this week,” Mr Peereboom said.

“Incredibly, 4.3 is our preliminary average number of registered bidders per property, and this was with our buyers, sellers, agents and auctioneers all in separate locations.

“The platform is indicating to us that sales aren’t going to stop moving through, and as we keep our finger on the pulse of what’s happening out there, the results are most definitely still there thanks to the hard work between our members and clients.”

Principal Kyle Woodbine of Wynnum | Manly took out the top auction sale of the group with the sale of 58C Duncan St, Wynnum West which saw five registered bidders battle it out. Auctioneer Phil Parker kept them entertained online before his gavel came down at $1.2 million.

On the back of a week that saw some serious auction success in Brisbane, Ray White Mt Gravatt selling principal Grant Boman sold 16 Condong St, Mansfield under the hammer.

With six registered bidders, the auction bidding started at $520,000 and resulted in eight bids before an eager buyer snapped up the three bedroom home for $595,000. Mr Boman said he was extremely happy with the result.

“I was happy to get six willing bidders paying cash, unconditional and watching it online. It just shows that there’s people still wanting to buy.” Mr Boman said.

“I think the owner was relieved to get the results they did and move on with their life in north Queensland where they have already bought a property.”

The home was bought by a local family wanting to make use of Mansfield’s school catchment and family friendly facilities.

On the Sunshine Coast, Ray White Maroochydore director and auctioneer Dan Sowden called five auctions that resulted in a 60 per cent clearance rate.

“We’re absolutely delighted, there were 12 registered across our private online auctions today,” Mr Sowden said.

“I’m sure it was a new experience for them, bidding on the computer in the comfort of their own home but we did see in all sales some strong competition and inevitably we created an environment where owners got premium prices and most importantly an unconditional, cash sale.”

Ray White Mooloolaba director James Goldsworthy sold 39 Minti St, Maroochydore for $496,000 through an online auction that attracted seven registered bidders and saw a massive 21 bids.

The winning buyers were locals who Mr Goldsworthy said only viewed the property at 9:30am that morning while an Adelaide bidder registered just before the auction having never physically seen the property.

“We had strong interest from day one from locals, mostly entry level, first home buyers looking to renovate. It’s been pretty consistent over the whole campaign,” Mr Goldsworthy said.

“It was easy to adapt and the thing to note was that our buyers and sellers were very patient and understanding, they just rolled with it. Everyone was very, “whatever we have to do”, which was nice.”

“The market has narrowed down to just genuine buyers which has only become apparent now in the last few weeks so there's been a real shift. But the buyers are out there and very willing to buy.”

Ray White South Australia Chief Auctioneer John Morris said despite isolation, the motivation was still there for buyers to bid via the ‘new normal’ online auctions.

“Today, we’ve seen an average for three registered bidders per auction, which is actually consistent with the months prior to these strange times.

“We’re still getting plenty of online auction bookings through so people are still looking at selling their properties and people are still happy to go to auction.”

It was all happening in South Australia today where Ray White Glenelg I Plympton Sales Consultants Samuel Paton and Christopher Jenman today sold 2 Gratton Street, Brighton for $915,000 to a local family after a mammoth 50+ private inspections..

There were a whopping nine registered/active bidders who kicked off the online auction at $750,000.

“This really was a terrific auction with nine registered bidders - four of whom competed rigorously throughout to push the price up from $750,000 to $915,000,” Mr Paton said.

“I understand people feel like they should hold off at the moment but it really is a fantastic time to sell - with stock constraints the competition is more fierce than ever before.

“Eight bidders missed out on this property so there are buyers out there who are cashed up and ready to go right now - the serious buyers are still engaging us strongly.

“We’ve focused all our energies on getting the best price for our vendors for the stock we do have and I have to pay tribute to our auctioneer Rod Smitherham who really went the extra mile this week in taking the bidders through the platform to ensure they were comfortable.”

The vendor said: “Samuel Paton and his team at Ray White Glenelg have worked very hard, in very trying conditions, to deliver me a result I'm more than happy with. From the initial contact, to the final stages and auction, I've been impressed with the way the whole team has handled this process.

“During this, at times stressful journey, nothing was too much bother, and they were available whenever I needed to settle any queries.

“I've no hesitation in recommending this highly professional team.”

Ray White Port Adelaide Sales Specialist Petra Mells today sold 283 Military Road, Semaphore for $690,000 with two interested bidders.

After more than 20+ private inspections by mostly owner-occupiers, the new buyer is a local lady who relocated from Canberra a couple of years ago.

“The online auction is a really good option given the current restrictions that are in place - it’s certainly the way forward for buyers and sellers,” Ms Mells said.

“Patience and communication is the key and it’s really positive to see so many of our potential buyers embracing this new technology as a way to buy property.

“The market for us is still pretty good and property is certainly still selling. Buyers know what is happening right now and they’re more than happy to work with us on it.

“I have to applaud people for really embracing the private inspections. There’s no doubt real estate is an essential service because everyone needs a home.”