The agility of Ray White members to adapt to the new rules surrounding large gatherings passed its first hurdle this week with many successful auction events safely held across the country.
Ray White‘s members had 101 auctions scheduled on Wednesday night and the early indications are that 69 per cent have sold, with more 3.8 registered bidders per property and crowd sizes of 47 people on average.
This is an above-average number for mid-week auctions, according to the group’s in-house data.
Ray White has 72 auctions booked across Australia last night and 338 on Saturday, of which just eight per cent have sold prior, which is slightly less than normal.
Managing Director Dan White said he was proud of how the group’s members were quick to provide a safe yet welcoming environment for all buyers and sellers.
“Our members know how to set up an auction room so our buyers are at least 1.5m apart and we are very contact-conscious and especially regarding using single-use bidding paddles, fresh pens and cleaning down all surfaces,” Mr White said.
“For our members, this is the new normal and we showed that all these things are making people feel safe, and they are not stopping us from creating competition for our vendors.
“So many people are asking about what the market is doing. We are more focused on the process of making a safe environment for our members and customers because we know that if we can achieve that, the market will remain vibrant.”
This week, Ray White Surry Hills associate director Matthew Carvalho sold 20 Forsyth St, Glebe for $2.020 million under the hammer in front of 40 people on the footpath of the popular inner west suburb.
“The winning bidders were upgrading professionals who live nearby, and the under-bidder was a downgrader,” Mr Carvahlo said.
“To be honest, I was a tad nervous going into the auction about how many people would turn out but I sent everyone an SMS ahead of the auction and reminded everyone to space themselves out 1.5m apart, and to please be mindful of people’s personal space.
“We are using disposable paddles and if anyone wants to stay home and place a phone bid then, of course, we’ll accommodate their wish, but so far no-ones taken up that option.”
On the same night Nathan Circasta of Ray White Carlingford saw a crowd of 50 people – among them 16 registered bidders – turn up at the Carlingford Sports Club to buy 13 Balaka Drive, Carlingford NSW.
“It’s a new day and the sky has not fallen in. In fact, 16 people registered to buy this nice and tidy three-bedroom property as my owner was moving into a retirement village,” he said.
“I had more than 100 groups through during the auction and all the buyers were local except for the winning bidders who are moving back from Canberra to the area.”
The property sold under the hammer for $1.360 million.
Ray White NSW Chief Auctioneer Alex Pattaro said this week more than 30 people arrived at the Canterbury Leagues Club to be greeted by ‘contact conscious’ signs and extra precautions. The tidy home at 59 Ninth Ave, Campsie sold for $950,000 under the hammer.
“Buyers are still committed, determined, focused and ready to buy,” Mr Pattaro said.
“We have created a very safe welcoming environment. Our elderly vendor initially didn’t want to come to her own auction because of what she had seen in the media, but after we explained the protocols we have adopted as precautionary measures – we spaced out the chairs 1.6m apart and plenty of hand sanitising, and the auctioneer could sign the contract on her behalf if she wished – then she came down and saw the great result for herself.”
Ray White Sherwood | Graceville Cameron Crouch said he was so proud of his team for creating a safe and welcoming environment at their fabulous new rooftop auction venue above their business.
“We are an auction business and now more than ever people will come to our open-air auction venue,” Mr Crouch said.
“We’ve had no cancellations and last night (Wednesday) we had at least 30 people attend and everyone stayed for all the lots to finish, they weren’t in a hurry to run off.”
The team sold four out of five lots on the order of sale ranging from a block of land for $400,000 to a $1.175 million home.
“We had great numbers on the weekend and we are seeing the same number of bidders as before the virus,” Mr Crouch added.
“We live-streamed it as we always do but we haven’t had anyone cancel anything – in fact, this week we have listed eight more auctions for April and May. It’s business as usual for us.”
Ray White Victoria Chief Auctioneer Matt Condon helped set up the function room at the Taylors Lakes Hotel (pictured above) this week for Ray White Taylors Lakes regular monthly in-room, which normally attracts a crowd of up to 250 people.
“Eight sold under out of 14 and it’s extremely likely two more will sell today,” Mr Condon said.
“We staggered all the auctions to space out the lots 1-5; 6-10 and 11-14. So we effectively ran three separate in-room auctions.
“People entered and left through different doors, we sprayed the room with Glen 20 between the groups and all buyers used laminated paddles which were cleaned thoroughly.
“The biggest take-home for me was how much the crowd appreciated all the measures we had taken.
“It was 100 per cent publicly accepted and appreciated, it was such a huge positive.
“Once the auction was up and running, the market took over and the market is still strong.”
Ray White Taylors Lakes agent George Skizas said his business took their responsibilities very seriously.
“We live-stream all our in-rooms anyway but (Wednesday) night we had a security guard on the door with a clicker to make sure we never had more than 100 people in the room at any one time and we let our buyers know in advance that we would stagger the lots and spaced out the chairs 1.6m apart,” Mr Skizas said.
“We sold 57 per cent under the hammer but that will be over 71 per cent today as two more will sell today.”
Mr Skizas had two buyers buy a property sight unseen after they missed out again on the home they had arrived to buy.
Last night Ray White Glenroy had seven properties being auctioned at the Northern Golf Club in Melbourne’s north-west.
The office is planning to separate the auctions into two blocks to ensure the 100-plus crowd expected complies with government recommendations.
Principal Mete Karan doesn’t believe this will affect the flow of the auctions and he’s expecting a great result with online bidding options.
“Our in-room auctions are looking good and we are giving bidders the opportunity to bid online through live streaming in case they don’t feel comfortable coming into the auction. So far we are expecting 25 active bidders for tonight,” Mr Karan said.
“We’re lucky because we already have all the technology in place to live-stream auctions and bids will be very clearly displayed everywhere including on YouTube, social media and our website.
“We’re taking all recommended precautions including offering hand sanitisers, we’re putting up signs asking bidders to stay at least 1.5m apart and there will be no shaking hands. In saying this, we are also trying to keep it light and put a positive twist on it.”
