Auctioning land online is proving highly profitable for Joburg - boosting the city's coffers by millions of rands.

Joburg Property Company, which manages the land owned by the council, said it had raked in an extra R25-million during the past three years by selling property on the Intersite website, www.intersite.co.za.

Last year, a property in Strathavon near Sandton valued at R1.5-million in the tendering process went for R3.5-million over the Internet.

Joburg Property Company spokesman Leila McKenna told Metro this week that Internet auctions were successful because they were attracting more entrepreneurial bidders.

'E-auctions attract the top end of the development market. They also provide easy access.

'Interested individuals and consortia can log on wherever there is a PC,' she said.

McKenna said the average price of land sold on the Internet varied from R500 000 to well into the millions.

She said that logging on to the website was not complicated.

A bidder could arrive at the Intersite website and click on the auction menu option.

There the bidder could get more information about available property, the property's size, what it could be used for, and the reserve price.

But bidders who register have to disclose certain personal information, including their creditworthiness and their ability to raise the necessary finance.

They also have to disclose their black economic empowerment credentials.

Once that is done, the successful bidder can download a copy of the deed of the sale and find out how much deposit money to put down.

Neil Gopal, a representative of Intersite, said that unlike the traditional closed tender process, the new system allowed transparency.

'The bidders can see against whom they are bidding and the value of bids being placed. In this way corruption by seller or buyer can be prevented as bidders are able to monitor the auction from start to finish,' he said.

According to Joburg Property Company, the land sold is usually used for residential development, such as townhouses, or for commercial purposes, such as garages and supermarkets.

The company holds its e-auctions at least three times a year and the next one is expected in March.