By 14:00, 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. “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.”
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.
GoIndustry DoveBid SA’s next property online property auction on its site
www.Go-Dove.com/sa-property will close on Wednesday, 12 October. 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.