Editing Auction (section)

===Real estate auctions===
[[File:Melbourne Real Estate Auctioneer.jpg|thumb|An estate agent conducting an auction of real estate in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia]]

In some countries, such as [[Australia]], auctioning is a common method for the sale of [[real estate]]. Auctions were traditionally used as an alternative to the [[For sale by owner|private sale/treaty method]] to sell property that, due to their unique characteristics, were difficult to determine a price for. The law does not require a vendor to disclose their [[Reservation price|reserve price]] prior to the auction. During the 1990s and 2000s, auctions became the primary method for the sale of real estate in the two largest cities, [[Melbourne]] and [[Sydney]]. This was largely due to the fact that in a private sale the vendor has disclosed the price that they want, and potential purchasers would attempt to [[low-ball]] the price, whereas in an auction purchasers do not know what the vendor wants, and thus need to keep lifting the price until the reserve price is reached.

The method has been the subject of increased controversy during the twenty-first century as [[Australian property bubble|house prices sky-rocketed]]. The rapidly rising housing market saw many homes, especially in Victoria and New South Wales, selling for significantly more than both the vendors' reserve price and the advertised price range. Subsequently, the auction systems' lack of transparency about the value of the property was brought into question, with [[estate agent]]s and their vendor clients being accused of "under-quoting". Significant attention was given to the matter by the Australian media, with the government in Victoria eventually bowing to pressure and implementing changes to legislation in an effort to increase transparency.<ref>{{cite web|title=Understanding underquoting|url=https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/licensing-and-registration/estate-agents/running-your-business/advertising-and-representations/understanding-underquoting|website=Consumer Affairs Victoria|publisher=CAV|access-date=9 December 2018|archive-date=28 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228084403/https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/licensing-and-registration/estate-agents/running-your-business/advertising-and-representations/understanding-underquoting}}</ref>

In the UK, historically, auction houses were perceived to sell properties which may have been {{nowrap|repossessed{{hsp}}{{mdash}}{{hsp}}}}where a home owner fails to make regular mortgage {{nowrap|payments{{hsp}}{{mdash}}{{hsp}}}}or were [[probate]] sales {{nowrap|({{hsp}}{{em|i.e.}},{{tsp}}a}} family home being sold by the heirs). However, more recently, selling at auction has become an alternative to a normal property sale, due to the speedy nature of the entire process.<ref>{{Cite web|last=ZFN|date=2021-08-22|title=Building Survey of Auction Properties|url=https://www.zfn.co.uk/post/building-survey-of-auction-properties|access-date=2021-08-27|website=ZFN|language=en}}</ref>

In China, land auctions are under the sole control of local government officials. Because some developers may use bribes to please government officials to obtain the right to purchase the land, the central government requires that future land auctions be conducted using a [[spectrum auction]] in order to prevent the spread of corruption. Although this method cannot completely solve the problem of corruption, it is still a significant contribution to the auction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cai |first1=Hongbin |last2=Henderson |first2=J. Vernon |last3=Qinghua |first3=Zhang |title=China's land market auctions: evidence of corruption? |journal=The RAND Journal of Economics |date=2013 |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=488–521 |doi=10.1111/1756-2171.12028 |jstor=43186429 |pmid=25506125 |pmc=4262968 |s2cid=16101212 }}</ref>