The competition was held last night with the four finalists battling it out in a bidding sequence with 110 bids lasting on average 20 minutes, the longest in the history of the competition.

Gavin Croft, who calls auctions for Queensland Sotheby's International Realty in Brisbane, Bresic Whitney in Sydney, and Ray White in Auckland, said it was an extraordinary length of time to concentrate for but it gave him the opportunity to really demonstrate his auctioneering ability.

Reigning REIQ Auctioneer of the Year and Australasian Auctioneering Champion Justin Nickerson was the runner up.

Related reading: Queensland Sotheby's International Realty welcomes new auctioneer Gavin Croft

“When you come up against Justin Nickerson who has won the Australasian Auctioneering Championship for the last two years, it is a surprise,” said Mr Croft.

“It’s a nice touch to beat a guy like that who is very good at his craft.”

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Gavin Croft, winner of the REIQ Auctioneer of the Year, Antonia Mercorella, CEO of the REIQ, and runner up Justin Nickerson

Mr Croft has previously won the REINSW Auctioneer of the Year in 2013 and 2014, and was a finalist at the Australasian Auctioneering Championships in 2016.

He is now only the second person to win an REI Auctioneer of the Year title in two states, following in the footsteps of Paul Cavanaugh, who has also won the title under REINSW and REIQ flags.

He has been in the real estate industry since 2000, and went into full time auctioneering four years ago.

Related reading: Two finalists announced in Senior Auctioneering Competition

Antonia Mercorella, CEO of the REIQ said last night's competition was very much about testing the tenacity, patience and discipline of the auctioneers.

“It was an intense script with a long bidding sequence, which really required auctioneers to be on their game in terms of remaining committed and passionate about the auction.

“There is always an element of theatricality in the competition, and this year we wanted to present a very challenging script.

“We wanted to test the contestants and see what their skills were.”

Ms Mercorella said they wanted the competition to be realistic, and when a property is hotly contested it’s not unusual for an auction last a very long time and be fiercely competitive.

“It was about challenging the auctioneers to be on their game for a long period of time.

“They really had to be disciplined to keep the auction moving along at a good pace.

“The bidding script also required auctioneers to be on their game in terms of calculations and keeping numbers in their heads."

Related reading: Winner of the 2017 Australasian Auctioneering Championships is Justin Nickerson

The pace of the bids were scripted, varying from fast to slow.

Other competitors were former REIQ Auctioneer of the Year Mark MacCabe and former REIQ Auctioneer of the Year finalist David Holmes.

A portion of the ticket sales were donated to the drought relief cause, and there was a charity auction which raised $2,500 for the cause.

Justin Nickerson will represent Queensland at the Australasian Auctioneering Championships in New Zealand this October with 2018 runner-up Mitch Peereboom from Ray White.

Gavin Croft and Justin Nickerson will represent the REIQ at the Australasian Auctioneering Championships in 2019, when the REIQ will host the event.

These are the auctioneering competitions that have already been held:

REINT: Daniel Harris won the REINT Auctioneering Championships, while Karl Secondis was runner up.

REIT: Carlton Heres won the REIT Senior Auctioneer Competition, with Andrew de Bomford the runner up.

REIV: Luke Banitstiotis and Michael Wood were the two finalists in the Senior Auctioneer Competition.

REINZ: Andrew North won the Auctioneering Championships and John Bowring was runner up.

REINSW: Clarence White and Stuart Richie were the two finalists in the Senior Auctioneer Competition

REISA: Bronte Manuel won the Auctioneering Championships  

Read more about winners in Auctioneering Championships:

Bronte Manuel makes history, wins REISA 2018 Auctioneering Championships four times

Two finalists announced in REINSW Senior Auctioneers Competition

Andrew North wins REINZ Auctioneering Championships for fourth time