A two-bedroom house in Auckland sold for $1.45 million yesterday in what is believed to be the world's first international online real estate auction.
52 Sussex Street, in Grey Lynn, sold under the hammer after 21 bids, with three registered bidders competing for the property.
It was real estate agency Ray White's first ever international online auction sale, with their auctioneer in isolation in Brisbane, some 2288kms away from the property he sold.
The lockdown brought in to combat the spread of the coronavirus meant that the auction had to be conducted online. The vendors, the bidders and the auctioneer, Ray White NZ chief operating officer and auctioneer Gavin Croft, were all safe in their own homes during the proceedings.
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Ray White, which ran the bidding platform in Sydney, said the sale highlighted the strength of the group’s technical capabilities despite the time zones and distances.
Croft, who flew home to Brisbane to be with his family before the lockdown came into effect, said the technology available meant he could still call weekly auctions in Auckland.
Ray White NZ chief operating officer and auctioneer Gavin Croft calls the auction from Brisbane. Photo / Supplied
“Despite the lockdown in New Zealand there’s still deals happening especially if people had already inspected a property before the lockdown - which these did - and fell in love with it and it’s still available for sale then they still want to buy,” Croft said.
“Buyers just need to have all their finance in place and we can use DocuSign for the contracts. Finance brokers are still an essential service in NZ and their work can be done electronically."
He added: “This international live auction is testament to the work being done at Ray White and across the group in the tech space. We had Dave Newton, Ray White NSW Digital BDE in Sydney, working the tech as the bids came in. It was like a perfect triangle.”
“All three buyers were very comfortable. In fact the under bidder texted me moments after it ended and said how great the experience was, and that they like being at home and bidding online.
“Six months ago we probably would not have considered this but it also shows you how well I know [the selling agents] Elaine Ferguson and Matt Johnson as I have been calling auctions for them for over three years and we can read each other. It was seamless despite the distance.”
Ray White Ponsonby director Gower Buchanan said the auction "demonstrated the group’s commitment to assisting buyers and sellers to have confidence in transacting. Based on our vendors’ instructions and the resilience of our salespeople we were able to create a framework for them to both achieve success".
