Australia's premier auction event fast approaching

A stellar year of sales has set the scene for the Ray White Surfers Paradise Group’s twentieth annual three-day auction showcase, The Event.More than 130 residential, prestige, industrial and commercial properties as well as land sites and marine vessels are set to go under the hammer on January 27, 30 and 31.RWSP CEO Andrew Bell said The Event remained one of the largest auctions in Australia and provided an insight to buyer sentiment leading into the New Year.“In two decades The Event has grown to unrivaled heights and is now seen as a litmus test for the regional and national markets for the year ahead,” he said.“It continues to grow each year, with prospective buyers coming from across the country and overseas and sellers keen to take advantage of this.“The Event acts to spur the market into action - as a result we often see substantial sales activity in the weeks following the auctions.”Mr Bell reports inquiries for The Event 2013 started in June 2012 with sellers keen to take advantage of The Event’s international marketing reach.“The Event is well timed during the Gold Coast’s peak holiday season, which sees a huge number of prospective national and overseas buyers flock to the city,” he said.Mr Bell said he had also witnessed a convergence of buyers’ and sellers’ expectations as the market continued to gain strength throughout the year, making The Event perfectly timed in the real estate cycle.“There is general sentiment the market has reached the floor, which makes it an ideal time to sell with buyers seeing good value and competition for well-presented properties increasing,” he said.“A number of interest rate drops throughout the year has also improved buyer sentiment and will continue to do so over coming months as we feel their delayed effects.”Mr Bell said he expected an increase in international interest at this year’s auction following a bumper year of more than $108 million in sales to overseas buyers through the RWSP Group network in 2012.“This year we’ve seen a huge boost in sales to the international market, particularly Asian buyers, so we expect that will flow through to The Event,” he said.Mr Bell said The Event’s listings would showcase a diverse cross-section of Gold Coast properties ranging from one-bedroom units to prestige homes and small office spaces to large industrial facilities.He said 2012 had witnessed a surge in buyer confidence across the board, driven by growing activity in the prestige sector and the record sale of a $12 million Sanctuary Cove mansion.“Our office has traditionally been responsible for a number of the city’s highest priced sales and last year we witnessed noticeable growth in the prestige sector,” he said.“It gives the rest of us confidence when Australia’s highest wealth citizens back their intuition that now is the time to get into the market, and as a result we’ve seen steady activity across the residential market following the string of high-priced sales.”More than half a billion in property has been sold through The Event to date, with more than $30 million in sales each year since 2008.The Event 2013 will commence on Sunday January 27 with residential and marine auctions and the presentation of Andrew Bell’s annual property report at the Gold Coast Arts Centre.The commercial auction will follow on Wednesday 30 January at Southport Yacht Club and the prestige auction will conclude proceedings on January 31.