I’ve been active in the Brisbane auction market for about 10 years now and over recent times I have seen it start to come of age.

Part of the reason for its evolution is the infiltration of southerners, which sounds ominous but really isn’t.

What I mean is that more interstate migrants are coming into southeast Queensland and they are generally more familiar with auctions because of their popularity in Sydney and Melbourne in particular.

This, in turn, brings more of the auction culture to Brisbane. 

Also, the impact of shows like The Block have increased interest and understanding about auctions in Queensland on the whole.

There are also more auctions in Brisbane being held generally and that means that more people are coming into contact with them on a regular basis.

Sector evolution

Over my time in the Brisbane auction sector I have seen it evolve from being a method of sale used predominantly for distressed properties, such as mortgagee sales, to now be a marketplace where any type of property can be sold via auction for different reasons.

Whereas auctions once were commonly used to sell properties in strong and weak market conditions, these days they are popular in that in-between market, too, because more people recognise they are a powerful tool for shortening days on market and avoiding pricing mistakes. 

It’s important to realise that those two attributes don’t change whether the property is worth $200,000 or is a $7.75 million house in New Farm, which recently equalled the auction record in Brisbane.

Auction numbers in Brisbane are rising because people are identifying that it is not just a sales method for outlying or unique properties. 

It’s actually for all properties, with securing a successful sale always the desired end result. 

When I first started calling auctions in Brisbane about a decade ago, about one in three auctions were mortgagee sales. 

However, today, that number is probably one in 30 or 40 auctions. 

The predominant seller we work with today are mum and dad’s who just want to sell their homes, rather than lenders trying to recoup their losses because of someone defaulting on the loan in years come by. 

Generational change 

Buyers at auction are also becoming more experienced with younger generations, especially, understanding the process earlier than in the past. 

We are getting a wave of buyers coming through who are better educated generally, they read plenty about real estate online, and they watch auctions live and on the web.

In fact, I recently had a conversation about bidding strategies with a young person who contacted me just wanting to know more about the process generally. 

Previously, a lot of people would fake it until they hopefully made it, but now people are choosing to upskill on auctions to improve their chances of buying on the day.

That’s because people used to think that, because they live in a property of some description, they intrinsically knew enough about buying and selling real estate.

Today, the savvy ones recognise that there is more to it than just listing their property for sale or rocking up to an auction and hoping for the best. 

With more auctions happening all the time in Queensland, the increase in the use of buyer’s agents, as well as younger people learning about them sooner, there is no doubt that that sector has come of age.

The Brisbane auction market has certainly matured, with the next generation becoming more familiar and comfortable with them along the way, too.  

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