Australia's newly named Auctioneer of the Year Stuart Benson believes sales under the hammer have value in a changing market.
Benson, who helped in the transaction of A$500m worth of property sales in Sydney, switched careers from agent to auctioneer eight years ago.
He admits it's not always easy dealing with disappointed bidders, he says, and admits to even copping the odd heckle from the crowd.
He once had an auction stopped by a last-minute buyer who arrived just seconds before the hammer fell at A$4.3m. She entered the bidding after registering and eventually bought the property a few minutes later for A$4.65m.
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At another auction, one buyer deliberately bid against himself to put off his competition.
“Every single auction has its own nuance of drama — as many as I have done no two are the same because of the human factor," he says.
“Quite often the highest bidder will be rushing me to drop my gavel and hurry me up.
“Someone will yell out `when are you going to drop it’ but I want to allow the underbidder a moment to be sure if it is worth missing out on a property for an extra thousand dollars or another $5000."
Benson set up his own business at a time when auctions were not so popular in his patch in north western Syndey. He encouraged local agencies to use a different tactic of selling and now conducts around 500 sales every year.
His success and style earned made him a finalist in the REB (Real Estate Business) Auctioneer of The Year Awards three time before winning the title this year. It is judged by a panel of real estate and finance industry experts.
Benson believes selling under the hammer is a positive process as it brings out the buyers, even in a changing market.
His research, using data from CoreLogic and realestate.com.au, shows that auctions are currently a faster way to sell — averaging around six weeks on the market in comparison to ten weeks through private treaty.
He believes a good auctioneer doesn’t need to yell but needs to be clearly spoken, able to read a crowd and also empathetic.
"You have people spending perhaps more than they wanted to or perhaps they are going to miss out," he said.
"I pride myself on living local so the results I get really matter to me because it affects my median house price — I also have the upper hand because I’m talking about an area I love."
