At the beginning of 2026, 425 registered bidders came together for Ray White’s Gold Coast Auction Experience and resulted in an estimated $114 million in property sales on the day.
The team at Ray White Malan + Co brought 118 of our own scheduled auctions, with a 76% under the hammer clearance rate.
It was an extraordinary start to the year. But eight months later, how has the landscape of Gold Coast real estate changed?
Today’s market is operating very differently. With more properties on the market than at any point prior to COVID, and persistent media uncertainty, buyers have become increasingly selective. Sellers are competing with greater competition, and the gap between a well-executed campaign and a strategy of hope is becoming increasingly apparent.
In a market like this, competition can’t simply be expected. It has to be created.
And the numbers are beginning to demonstrate just how important the method of sale can be.
The headlines are growing predictable: clearance rates tightening nationwide, broader market growth moderating, and days on market lengthening.
While many in the industry view these conditions as a cue to retreat toward traditional methods of sale, we are taking a definitive stance, expanding our auction footprint to help sellers send an undeniable message of intent to the market.
The logic is simple, seller intent creates competition in today’s market. Buyers have more options and more uncertainty than since pre-2020, and naturally they naturally gravitate toward campaigns with fixed deadlines and decisive sellers, avoiding listings perceived to be “testing the water.”
A recent example of this in action was the auction of 2 Marlin Court, Palm Beach, a property advertised as mortgagee-in-possession. While many would lean away from using this messaging in their campaigns, fearing it signals that the property will sell cheap, it did exactly the opposite in this case.
Auction day saw 5 registered and active bidders, competing strongly and ultimately a sale price well above all expectations and the seller’s reserve price at $2,915,000. We can only speculate what would have happened in a traditional sale, but with no mechanism to generate buyer action, a sale value far below this exceptional result would be my expectation.
Even from a raw data point of view, the effect of intent is clear. Auctions campaigns attract more enquiry, twice the inspections, and half the days on market of their private treaty, expressions of interest, or tender counterparts.
On Friday 25 September, we’re bringing The Gold Coast Auction Experience back, this time to The Langham, Gold Coast.
More than 80 out of a total 100+ auctions are coming from the team at Ray White Malan + Co, and we feel the timing could not be better.
January demonstrated what can happen when hundreds of motivated, cash unconditional buyers are brought together in a competitive environment.
While Spring presents a different challenge, what hasn’t changed are the fundamentals that lead to exceptional results.
Our objective is not to create volume for the sake of volume, it is to recreate the conditions that produce competition.
One location. One deadline. A significant concentration of buyers across our entire market, and an environment designed to turn buyer interest into buyer action.
In an accelerating market, it was difficult to separate a great campaign from a great market.
When there are multiple buyers fighting over every property, competition can happen by accident.
More considered markets expose our true value.
The quality of the agent’s buyer work and depth of their buyer database.
The honest conversations between agent and seller.
The strategy around setting a compelling reserve price.
The relationship between agent and auctioneer.
We are looking forward to showcasing our Best in Market process to a huge selection of buyers, sellers, and future clients.
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