Can you explain this concept of bidding against yourself and when someone might do that?

Absolutely.

So at the end of the day, if we pick it apart, an auction really is just a negotiation, an open-air negotiation that happens between multiple parties.

Or sometimes you might find yourself in a position where you are the only one registered to bid.

So it is a one-on-one negotiation.

And essentially, bidding against yourself, it's been a bit of a wives' tale out there in the marketplace for a long time.

You'd never do something like that.

So why are some people saying that you shouldn't do this? Why are they arguing against it?

Can you explain this concept of bidding against yourself and when someone might do that?

Absolutely.

So at the end of the day, if we pick it apart, an auction really is just a negotiation, an open-air negotiation that happens between multiple parties or sometimes you might find yourself in a position where you are the only one registered to bid.

So it is a one-on-one negotiation and essentially bidding against yourself.

It's been a bit of a wives' tale out there in the marketplace for a long time.

You'd never do something like that.

It's not in your best interest and the seller has to take whatever the highest bid is.

So why are some people saying that you shouldn't do this? Why are they arguing against it?

Now, look, Alec, numbers are showing that, you know, clearance rates have fallen, right? Uh, what have you experienced and seen over the last few weeks?

Yeah, look, we've certainly seen a change.

Uh, so for the start of the year as a business, we were sort of hovering around that 60, 65% clearance rate.

Uh, first time in a very long time it feels, uh, back down to sort of 54-odd percent for the month of June.

We're also seeing average bidder numbers decline, so for me, that's indicating there's a little bit of hesitancy in the market.

Buyers are just waiting to see where the dust settles, what these changes from the budget, from the recent interest rate hikes are gonna mean, and so there's a bit of a gap in the market, and in many ways that's an advantage for a buyer.

Well, you know if you're gonna be turning up to an auction, uh, there's a probability that you'll have less competition than perhaps in a, you know, red-hot market.

And, and so speaking of passing in, what, what should interested buyers do if a property does pass in? What's the process around there? And is it different because of, you know, the clearance rate percentages at the moment, or just business as usual?