REIA Australasian Auctioneering Championships

New Zealand’s Phil McGoldrick was announced as winner of the 2009 Australasian Real Estate Institutes Auctioneering Championships, at a gala dinner held at Hobart's Wrest Point on 2 September 2009.  This is the third consecutive time New Zealand have won the coveted title.

The championships are conducted jointly by the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) and the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ), and were this year hosted by the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania (REIT). Sixteen leading auctioneers from Australia and New Zealand were vying for the title, finalists at the end of the first day of heats included:

Damien Cooley, Cooley Auctions, New South Wales

Steve Abbott, Jellis Craig, Victoria
Mark Sumich, Sumich Estate Agents and Auctioneers, New Zealand
Phil McGoldrick, Harcourts Group Ltd, New Zealand

“The Australasian Real Estate Institutes Auctioneering Championships date back to 1993 when the REIT held the first auctioneering championship, which has now grown into a large-scale international event,” said REIA President, Mr David Airey.

“Australia’s best auctioneers put up a great fight with the best we have to offer, however, we didn’t have quite enough to beat the New Zealand team,” he said.

“New Zealand may have taken the trophy home again, however, the overall standard of the competition continues to improve. It was a tough competition with a challenging bidding scenario and all finalists performed well,” said REINZ President, Mr Mike Elford.

“This trans-Tasman rivalry can only lift the standard of auctioneering in both Australia and New Zealand, which is great for our industry and consumers,” Mr Airey and Mr Elford agreed.

Phil McGoldrick is to be congratulated for achieving the pinnacle of professional success in being named 2009 Australasian Real Estate Institutes Auctioneering Champion.

2009 will be the fourth time Phil has competed in the championships. Phil is the National Auction Manager for the Harcourts Group in NZ, and calls in excess of 500 property auctions a year, plus a raft of charity fund raising auctions.

The 2008 Australian Real Estate Institutes Auctioneering Championships were hosted by the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory (REINT) in Darwin.

New Zealand auctioneer, Mark Sumich, won the 2008 Australasian Real Estate Institutes Auctioneering Championship as well as the 2007 championships, held in Perth.

Mark Sumich is the owner of Sumich Estate Agents and Auctioneers Ltd, based in Newmarket, Auckland. He has been at the coal face of auctions in Auckland for nearly 20 years. Mark is involved in the auction process from the time of listing the property, right through to the auction itself, and prides himself on the attention to detail which is essential for any auction to be successful. He has established himself as an auctioneer involved in the sale of property from small units through to multi-million dollar mansions and knows that the role is pivotal in achieving top sales figures.