February 8, 2026

3 Auctions..3 Pass-ins…2026 Message

Auction Watch – Saturday, 7 February 2026

First tests after the summer lull, after the interest increase – told us plenty, even on a small sample size.

After weeks of quiet, today felt like the first proper “back to work” auction Saturday.

So we went out and watched three campaigns, in Toorak, Sandringham, and Mont Albert North.

What we saw was revealing. Not spectacular. Not disastrous. But very educational for buyers, sellers and agents heading into what looks like a challenging 2026.

Toorak: “Passed Out” Before it could Pass-in

There was no auction.

No crowd.
No bidding.
No theatre.

The campaign never even made it to the starting line.

That, in itself, tells you something about confidence right now up the food chain.

Sandringham: Thin Bidding, Thin Confidence

Next was Sandringham a circa $2 million Bayside property.

Crowd: Around 20 (not awful for Bayside, but not strong).
Opening: Vendor bid.
Action: Two bidders. Neither could really stretch – they only had one bid each. One bidder walked. One stayed.

So unlike Toorak, got to the starting line, through the runners never got out of the starting gates (quote).

Still unsold as we publish. This felt like a “work-in-progress” campaign. An experienced agent will likely stitch it together post-auction but it showed how fragile demand can be when confidence is thin.

Mont Albert North – The Day’s Big Lesson

The standout was 12 Halifax Street, Mont Albert North.

Here one buyer got to the starting line, and whilst slow out of the starting gates, did get going when the whip was applied and seemingly kept going well past the finish line and some!

Two years ago:
Sold as land for around $1.75m (circa 680sqm).

Brand-new luxury home. Strong Asian-Australian design influence.

Now Today’s Setup

Crowd: 70–100 people (big).
Coffee van: Pumping.
Quote: $3.5m – $3.85m.
Auctioneer: Tim Heavyside — sharp suit, sharp performance.

It felt like it might run.

BUT …. Wow….It didn’t…till behind closed doors and then it ran and ran and kept on running.

The Auction

Tim opened at $3.5m.
Called for $100k rises.

Bold.

No one followed.

From there, the auction on the street was a slow grind:

$50k bid, after some argument with Bidder One was reluctantly accepted – this means Tim was a long way off where he wanted to be with that particular buyer and he wasn’t sure he had anyone else to push them.
$25k from a second? No said Tim surprisingly.
$20k? Eventually yes.
$10k? No said Tim.
$8k? No said Tim.

For most of the auction, Tim was simply saying: “No.”

Two bidders.
One clearly nervous.
One clearly the standout for Tim.
No professional buyer agent (on either buyer side).

It passed in at $3.58m to Bidder One.

So far, so ordinary.

Then… Indoors

After negotiations: was it a pass-in still….. or a sale at $3.6m?

NO!!

Sold for $3.9m.

WOW! An uplift of $320,000.

What….in a struggling auction.
With only one real buyer.

That’s extraordinary….. but not that uncommon…….every week buyers do this…….why? Because a skilled selling agent tells them too.

The Two Big Lessons

Did Tim “bully” anyone?

Did he do anything improper?

No doubt he said something like you are not buying this at $3.58m …. You will have to pay over $4m….and for some reason……they almost did!

So was that wrong, when they may not have had to?

Yes/No? … Tim did what his vendor wanted and surely people spending nearly $4m know they needed help on their side? Seemingly not.

Is it Tims fault they did not have representation? Should Tim have gone easy on them? He was after all not working for the buyers and Victorian real estate law is clear…. Tim as an agent cannot work for anyone else other than his client……..in this case the seller. he cannot help the buyer……he cannot be fair!

Tim did his job and he was allowed, by the buyer, to do it exceptionally well.

Tim totally and fully controlled the couple, even though to the auction watchers it may have appeared the other way round.

Tim totally and fully controlled their psychology.

He set the tempo.
He rejected certain bids.
He created pressure.
He held a line.

And it worked.

Result: An extra $???? for his client.

Why Buyers Need Representation

The buyers “saved” a buyer agent fee. Yep sure did…. but at what price! One is allowed to save a lawyer fee or a doctor fee….but what is the downside?

Did the buyers pay $250,000 to 320,000 more than they had to, more than the auction suggested?

What one key question would a good buyer agent have asked?

What key actions would a good buyer agent have exhibited before, during and post the pass in?

Tim is a genius when he can smell buyer fear, opportunity, even blood (and I mean that metaphorically)

The buyers negotiated alone — against a professional.

2026, at this early stage, maybe saying that good results will be about agent skill, more so than market luck

This Saturday showed what 2026 could be (still early days) shaping up to be….similar to 2025:

Fewer bidders
More single-bidder scenarios
More stalled campaigns
More post-auction deals
Bigger gaps between good and bad outcomes

Last spring:
Less than 1 in 3 EOIs sold.

Even 16 weeks later: Only about 50% had cleared.

That’s not a flying market.

It’s a selective market.

And in selective markets:

Good selling agents win AND/OR
Prepared buyers/buyer agents win…..yep look above on the Mont Albert home in reverse with a weak agent convincing a seller to take $3.58m and a strong buyer……. letting them.
Do you smell $320,000 the other way in the buyers pocket?.. Like after tax and interest that’s more than half a million dollars.
Unrepresented unskilled parties lose — often a lot and not just money……

What This Means for Sellers

If you’re selling in 2026: Like 2025 you cannot rely on “the market” to save you.

You need:

Goals & Strategy
Genuine Negotiation skill from an agent working for you.
Multiple pathways (even multi agent – or somebody of Tim’s skill if going with one)
Strong plan that controls or at the very least manages the psychology
Calm execution when the sh.. hits the fan. At all 3 of the auctions yesterday the sh… hit the fan for the sellers – however in one auction, it the sh… then hit the fan for the buyers.

You risk underselling — by hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions when you listen to an agent who says of course I will get you x and then a few weeks later says sorry its the market.

C’mon team do agents tell you its the market when its a good result. Ha, never in a million years. When its good its us agents (buyer or seller) and when its bad its the market!!

When you hire monkeys and get peanuts is it the monkey’s fault?

A truth is….its probably you and your selection.

What 2026 Means for Buyers

If you’re buying in 2026:

Many times, you’ll be the only real bidder.

That sounds good.

Sometimes a second bidder saves you a million dollars….this is a paradox the most skilled understand and most don’t have a clue what this means!

A lone bidder (buyer or seller) can be good but only if your skilled and disciplined and/or the other side isn’t.

Because then you’re not bidding against others.

You’re bidding against yourself – and who says you have the price anywhere near right.

And sometimes you are against a professional. Above only had one buyer!

That’s wasn’t auction transparency ……. that was dangerous.

Final Word

I have no knowledge of the buyer and maybe I am being harsh….maybe he/she/they were just happy to pay the extra $320,000 because they hate buyer agents or had a bad experience with one…or their friends laughed at them when they suggested they may engage one or its not cultural to have a buyer agent.

Or the ol chestnut the selling agent said why do you need a buyer agent, I will help you. Do buyers still really believe that? Obviously yes… the power of “free advice” Above was seemingly $320,000 of free advice.

It is possible the buyers wanted to for whatever reason simply handover $500k in tax free / interest dollars in a few minutes post auction…. even if they didn’t have to….. as the pain was too much to bear.

At that time in the process (post auction), it could have felt like they were in the middle of Bass Strait, in the dark, in a leaky boat, well out of their depth with no radio phone, surrounded by sharks and a storm rolling in.

Well as a buyer post auction, or EOI offer time or as a seller post a failed public sale the storm has already rolled in and it’s too late to get meaningful help as your fait is largely sealed.

Get help early, do your research and make good decisions before it gets to above for buyers or what we covered last week for sellers!

Is it the Market? or the People who made the decisions.

Mal James

0408 107 988
Melbourne, February 7 2026