Resilient auction market still performing

April 2020 will be remembered for years to come as one of the most testing times for those in the property business during the height of the COVID-19 shutdown.

But despite the hawkish outlook by most commentators, Ray White’s auction activity has been electrifying to watch.

The lightning pivot to online auctions has seen the Ray White Group’s national market share almost double in the last week alone to 45.8 per cent in Australia, up from 24 per cent prior to the COVID-19 period.

And the number of average registered bidders has also increased to 3.6 per auction, up 1.1 on the prior year.

Many diehard auction agents have not skipped a beat in isolation and recorded office clearance rates well over 80 per cent or more.

Ray White Managing Director Dan White said the number of auctions booked for April was well down on last year. “No hiding from that, but what is interesting is the Ray White clearance rate is strikingly similar to this time last year,” he said.

“The auction method requires strong conviction from both vendor and agent. In times of broader economic volatility and when listing numbers are very low as they are now, it is not uncommon for alternative methods of sale to become prevalent.

“However, experience suggests that this will change in the coming weeks and months as the evidence of auction success in the market continues to build and listing numbers increase.”

The top sale of the month in April was the 414 ha ‘Oakholme’ grazing property at 441 Streeters Rd, Ben Lomond NSW in New England which was sold through Ray White Rural NSW co-director Andrew Starr for $4.8 million. The standout sale under the hammer capped off 47 years of ownership by the Melville family. With four active bidders, the competitive online auction began with a $3 million starting bid and received a total of 17 bids.

“The property received both local and interstate interest throughout the campaign and all in all it was very strong all the way through with the quality of interest being very high,” he said.

The top commercial auction for the month was at 1 Gowrie Street in Ryde where 15 registered bidders, all of whom were active, competed vigorously before the virtual hammer fell for $3,430,000.

The asset, that came with six two-bedroom self-contained units and three one-bedroom self-contained units, offered a potential income of $159,380* p.a. plus GST.

In the last month, the group has been surveying online auction bidders and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

The winning bidder of 9 Taverner Square, Frankston, VIC, said she was nervous - to be expected before the auction started - “but the whole online auction was very easy - it was also great because my husband and I got to watch and bid together”.

Ray White Frankston Sales Agent Adam Price sold for $810,000.

“We actually sold our unit in Herston Lakes the night before public auctions were banned so we were so pleased to be able to buy a home so soon after. We looked at eight or nine properties the week before by private appointment but fell in love with 9 Taverner Square - we would’ve used any process to try and buy it,” she said.

“We were looking to upsize with our son and our dog and it’s lovely they both will now have space to grow into - my husband is also happy as he’s a keen gardener.

“The auction process itself was so easy - just being able to type it in the chat box from the comfort of your own home. The auctioneer does a great job because it’s much harder for them.

“We knew if we hadn’t secured this property then we would have had to have rented a place - and we were comfortable purchasing because we had already sold in the same market.”

Also in Melbourne, Ray White Craigieburn Sales Consultant Rocco Di Battista sold 50 Medway Road, Craigieburn, VIC for $570,000 at an online auction.

Purchaser Katrina Harris said the online auction platform really worked in her favour. “We have good familiarity with facilities such as Google Hangouts - so we were very pleased it was conducted online. I would actually prefer auctions to stay on-line rather than be on-site - the only part we missed was the excitement of physically being there,” Ms Harris said.

"It's a great system because you know who you’re up against and you're not looking around wondering where the next bid comes from.

"My husband and I have been telling all our family and friends about the online auction experience and it's perfect for people who are tech savvy.

"We bid aggressively early on for a house that ticked all of the boxes and we'll be moving to Craigieburn from Glenroy."

Meanwhile the winning bidder who bought 2/87 West St, Hadfield through Erhan Kalistu of Ray White Glenroy said the online auction set up was an “excellent initiative and made me much more comfortable”.

“I have attended a lot of auctions in person but this was the first through the online format and I found it to be similar. I absolutely recommend online auctions in the current environment and it’s really good to have them as an option when buying.

“I thought it would just be a teleconference rather than an online auction where you can actually see it happening so that was a great thing.

“The agent did a walk through on the day of what the online auction would look like and we logged in and had a test run to see if it was working. It was helpful to have someone run through the functionality and how it was going to look.

“I was on and off the phone with the agent which was helpful for me because I was very focused on what was going on and if I had someone on the phone the whole time it would have been distracting.

“The benefits of an online auction are definitely the convenience, obviously it was at home and I could bid from the comfort of the couch which is a nice luxury, and upholds safety measures which are so important at the moment.

“When the hammer came down I was really excited, I have been searching for months so to find something in the area that I wanted was such a good feeling.”