Multiple bidding wars marked the City of Cape Town’s inaugural 2021 virtual land auction on Wednesday, June 30, when some 150 would-be buyers went head-to-head to snap up vacant municipal land on offer across the metropole.
Commenting after the sale, High Street Auctions Director and Lead Auctioneer Joff van Reenen, said this was arguably the most exciting, heart-warming and joyous auction in his 28 years on the podium.
“It was incredible; the support from Capetonians for the sale and for each other was like no other auction I’ve ever conducted.
“People were sitting in their cars bidding on their phones; one gogo was at home in her kitchen patiently waiting to bid on a stand in Khayelitsha, there were church representatives, office workers, spaza shop owners, non-profit organisations – people from literally every walk of life registered and bid fiercely; sometimes in small increments and sometimes in huge ones.
“But the overriding mood from Lot 1 to 45 was of a crowd supporting their team during a Cup Final; whether people won or lost on the lots on which they were bidding there was more laughter and cheering than I’ve ever encountered on a real estate sale.”
Van Reenen says the lots that saw the fiercest bidding were residential and community sites.
“Buyer interest in the Cape Flats and the northern suburbs of the city, particularly, was astonishing. We knew ahead of the sale by registration numbers that Capetonians were interested in acquiring these sites because they’ve not come to market before, but what we didn’t anticipate was how ferocious the competition would be.
“Churches were going head-to-head with non-profits in suburbs such as Mitchells Plain, Delft and Khayelitsha and nobody wanted to back down once they were bidding. If this auction was any indication of the dedication to community service that exists in Cape Town, then it bodes extremely well for the future of residents in the city.”
Van Reenen says there was also significant interest in industrial sites in suburbs such as Delft and Bellville.
“One good example was during the auction of an industrial site in Delft, where bids had been flying in in increments of R50 000 and R100 000 up to R400 000. But the eventual buyer clearly had no intention of letting the site go, because he suddenly came in from left field with a knockout bid of R700 000 and effectively ended the auction of that lot.”
Van Reenen says in terms of auction numbers, around 150 bidders registered for the sale and more than 90% of them reside in Cape Town.
“The auction live-stream was viewed on High Street Auctions’ app, YouTube and Facebook channels by more than 5 000 people in five provinces, but again the vast majority of the viewing stream originated in the Western Cape. The highlights reel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR0nosZA3qc) clearly demonstrates why they were glued to their screens for more than four hours!
“We also achieved a new record with the marketing campaign for this auction, with more than 1.5 million views on social media in the run-up to the sale.”
Van Reenen says all sales will be subject to a 15 working days’ confirmation period by the City of Cape Town.
High Street Auctions will announce the date of the next City of Cape Town land auction on its app, downloadable free of charge from Android and IOS free of charge, as well as its website www.highstreetauctions.com in due course.
