Simon Parker
Three-times Australasian Auctioneering Championships winner Andrew North is one of five auctioneers to make it through to this year’s final, to be held later today.
Fifteen contestants from Queensland, WA, SA, ACT, NT, Tasmania, Victoria and New Zealand competed yesterday at the Adelaide Convention Centre to auction off a property from the Adelaide suburb of Glenelg.
At the end of the judging, the five finalists selected were as follows:
• Ben Brady - Queensland
• Daniel Coulson – New Zealand
• Michael Fenn – South Australia
• Rob Mason – Western Australia
• Andrew North – New Zealand
Later today, the finalists will be given the address and a tour of a different property which will be the challenge to decide the winner.
According to a Real Estate Institute of SA (REISA) statement, the auctioneering championships test an auctioneer’s skill level, ability to command a crowd, ability to control a bidding sequence and overall presentation and style.
REISA is hosting the championship this year, and chief executive officer, Greg Troughton, said that is was an honour to be managing the challenge which is held in such high esteem.
“These championships are the pinnacle for auctioneers in Australia and New Zealand and it really demonstrates how professional real estate is,” he said.
Last year’s winner, Mr Sumich, began his auction spiel at the 2011 event citing a (fictional) story about a European marathon runner who, despite leading the 1956 Melbourne Olympic's event, was so taken with the suburb he was running through - the same suburb where the fictional auction was being held - that he gave up his lead to stay in the area. Permanently.
"I'm a very structured auctioneer, and although I used quite a bit of flair today, I stuck to my knitting and did what I knew I could do," Mr Sumich told Real Estate Business shortly after winning the trophy, in September last year. "And my bidding was faultless today, so that's a big help."
"To win an Australasian title you basically have to be error-free on the numbers. When I got that, I thought I did OK.”
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.