Interesting to get this background to why Australia is peculiarly likely to have auctions. For a future post maybe I'd be interested to dig more into the particular auction mechanics that seem to defy standard auction procedure and favour vendors: things like not having to disclose your minimum selling price, allowing dummy bids, and not having to accept the highest bid (!). While an advantage of auctions is the transparency the same transparency doesn't currently apply to the vendor.
The thing is that all these things/techniques are also possible in private treaty negotiations and sales! So it’s hard to differentiate, which is why if I were to pick the one that’s better for the buyer I’d probably still pick auctions despite what you’ve correctly listed above.
Interesting to get this background to why Australia is peculiarly likely to have auctions. For a future post maybe I'd be interested to dig more into the particular auction mechanics that seem to defy standard auction procedure and favour vendors: things like not having to disclose your minimum selling price, allowing dummy bids, and not having to accept the highest bid (!). While an advantage of auctions is the transparency the same transparency doesn't currently apply to the vendor.
The thing is that all these things/techniques are also possible in private treaty negotiations and sales! So it’s hard to differentiate, which is why if I were to pick the one that’s better for the buyer I’d probably still pick auctions despite what you’ve correctly listed above.
And all the neighbours show up because we are a nation of stickybeaks! Fascinating article.
Because they're mildly entertaining
I’m glad you read the article