The division is the international online auction group GoIndustry DoveBid’s (represented locally by GoIndustry DoveBid SA) first dedicated venture into the online property auction arena.
By 14h00 (South African time), when the fall of the cyber-hammer occurred, the auction site had received close to 6 000 viewings from potential buyers as widespread as the USA, UK Singapore, Germany, Israel and Afghanistan. Twelve registered bidders participated in the auction and placed 63 bids in excess of R80-million on the seven properties on offer across the country. These properties ranged from high-end residential in Cape Town and vacant land ripe for development in Hillcrest, to industrial properties in Ndabeni and Dundee.
While none of the properties reached reserve, post the auction numerous deals have already been concluded, while others are under offer and awaiting feedback from sellers.
Says John Cowing, MD of GoIndustry DoveBid SA (Pty) Limited: “This is in line with what happens at normal, live property auctions and is also indicative of the current market place across all fields of the property industry. It reflects that sellers are often willing to accept a sale which may be below their initial expectations.”
Reports Kim Faclier, MD of GoIndustry DoveBid SA’s Online Property Division: “Surprisingly, two high-end residential properties in Cape Town that received the largest number of viewings and interest prior to the close of the auction, did not attract market-related bids, but we have now entered into discussion with some of the interested buyers.
“On the other hand, what was originally thought to be a ‘sleeper’ property in Hartzenbergfontein in Gauteng – a 2ha multipurpose venue suitable for everything from a conference venue to a rehabilitation facility - saw constant activity throughout the final two hours and sold post auction to a buyer from Gauteng.”
While the marketplace may still be new to online property auctions, it is believed to be the way the entire industry will be moving in the near future.
Says Faclier: “We are extremely pleased with the results of our first online property auction. It demonstrated that the properties on offer really do attract the interest of the global market. It is indeed a new concept that takes some getting used to, but many of our bidders have commented on the ease of using the system once they registered. A major advantage is the transparency of the online system compared to normal on-site, live auctions of the past. Buyers are able to see at anytime not only what the current bid is and take their time to consider their next move from the comfort of their own environment, but it is also obvious whether the property concerned has reached its reserve yet or not.”
GoIndustry DoveBid SA’s next property online property auction on its site www.Go-Dove.com/sa-property <http://www.Go-Dove.com/sa-property> will close on Wednesday 12 October 2011. The site will be active from one month prior to the auction so that properties on offer can be viewed. The South African property landing page gives potential buyers a complete overview of the ‘how to’ process from registering to view or list properties right through to how to bid on them.
Concludes Cowing: “The interest from sellers to include properties in our next auction is already substantial with a wide range of properties being brought to us by both sellers and the broker community.
“However, whilst it is clear there are lots of sellers, as a company we are very selective in terms of what we accept for auction as the properties must be saleable in the first place. For too long auctioneers have been taking properties on irrespective of their saleability and thus the sell-through rate has become extremely low. We will not take on properties unless we believe they can be sold.”
Publisher: eProp
Source: GIDB
