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A fintech developer is testing a new live app that promises to change the way people follow, bid, record and participate in auctions – both in Australia and from overseas.
Real estate app eAuctions is designed to enable agents to collect and capture bids at auctions in a digital format, faster and more accurately than can be done currently.
The app will see an auction’s scribe – or penciller – capture the auction’s data; including the time of the opening bid, the bids, the number of bids and the elapsed time of the auction, and send it in real time to an extended, logged-on audience.
“At eAuctions we saw an opportunity to move auctions into a digital format, capturing all the important information and automating at the same time,” eAuctions managing director Chris Land told REB.
“People, either at the auction or away from it, can view the bids coming in on their mobile device or PC.
“For first home buyers and people that are looking to move into new areas, the best you can do on a Saturday is probably get to three or four auctions. We now provide that convenience where they can now watch five or 10 auctions on a given Saturday simultaneously, and do the research and save a lot of time and energy.”
The new platform will also track a unique data-set, which will be “highly valuable” to real estate agents over time, as patterns begin to develop and trends become apparent.
“We've got location-based technology that will be able to identify who is watching auctions from wherever they are in the world,” Mr Land said, adding that this is something “the whole ecosystem” will benefit from.
Furthermore, Mr Land believes the new app will significantly extend audience reach, and reduce properties’ days on market.
“The point now is that you have 50 to 100 people attending auction on a given Saturday, but we believe we are going to attract tens of thousands of people to be able to watch these auctions.
“And in a scenario where someone is watching an auction and it actually gets passed in, the person watching – from anywhere around the world – can be instantly in contact with that listing agent and be providing them with their details as a potential buyer.
“So we think it will also reduce the days on market for these properties, and you can have investors who are watching five or six auctions simultaneously across four or five different agencies.”
Other features of the app include a database capability, where information is sent directly to the agent’s back-end systems for audit and compliance requirements, and a currency conversion capability for overseas investors.
The company has secured the provisional patent to this technology in Australia and New Zealand.
It has been trialling the app for 18 months, live in the market with CBRE at its commercial auctions, and with Buxton and several others in the residential space.
All have been “pretty excited” by the results, Mr Land said, especially with the app’s potential to open up new markets.
The final step is for eAuctions to secure approval to put the app onto the Apple App Store, and take the site live.
The app will be free for agents and the general public.
Vendors will be charged a $200 fee, incorporated into their advertising fees.
[Related: Auction activity rises across capitals]
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