That's interesting..it the auction the common way to buy and sell houses there?
Yeah, it's quite common and with the market like it is the auction increases prices and minimises time on market. The latter supports the former. I don't know the exact figures but it's something like 25% of residential sales on average around that country are auction sales. The one in this post for instance...16 registers bidders after a three week marketing/inspection campaign. Bidding opened by the auctioneer at $650,000 and inside of 12 minutes it was knocked down (sold) at $813,000. Unconditionally sold, no finance clause, no building/pest inspection...sold and deposit payable.
That seems like a good way to do it. Does it depend on the market attitude, as in a buyer's market or seller's market? I've not heard of that here, but I see the merit.
The tone in the market makes a difference yes, and the location/price of the house also as that dictates the socioeconomic demographic from a buyer's perspective and some simply can't get themselves into a position to buy unconditionally (i.e. no finance clause).