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More vendors are opting to sell their property by auction in Western Australia, with Harcourts WA reporting a 50 per cent increase in the number of properties selling under the hammer in the last 12 months.
Harcourts WA chief executive Andrew Moore said the increase in auction numbers was partly due to the current softening of the state’s property market.
“As the property market softens, I believe more home sellers are seeing the benefits of selling via auction.
“As the average number of days a property sits on the market increases, an ever growing number of West Australians are looking to the auction process to give them an outcome sooner,” Mr Moore said.
However, not everybody agrees.
REIWA president Alan Bourke told Real Estate Business that auction activity in the state had remained relatively subdued for some time, with data showing no significant increases.
“REIWA data shows the majority of homes sold in Western Australia are done so through private treaty,” Mr Bourke said.
“In fact, less than 10 per cent of total sales made here in Western Australia can be attributed to auctions.”
But while private treaty is the preferred sales method for the majority of vendors, Mr Bourke said an auction remained an effective way to achieve a faster sale.
“If agents need to achieve a quick sale, an auction is certainly more effective than selling via private treaty.
“They may not necessarily get the best price, but they will certainly achieve a timely result.”
These comments were largely echoed by Mr Moore.
“Because auctions have a deadline, and often gather people together at one time to sell the property, it is the best process for both buyers and sellers.
“For buyers they know that the price they are paying is fair as they have seen others bidding, and for sellers the process shows exactly where the property is priced by the buyers in the market on that day.”
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