PHOTO: Jo-Anne Clifford (REINZ Board), Tina Chamberlain, Jason Hussey (Property Press)
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) is delighted to announce that Conor Patton, Bayleys Auckland and Mark McGoldrick, Harcourts Canterbury were announced as the joint winners of the Premiere Division of the 2021 REINZ National Real Estate Auctioneering Championships.
Both Conor and Mark have now won the right to represent New Zealand at the Australasian Auctioneering Championships which will be held in Sydney later this year.
For the first time, REINZ held an Open Division in addition to the Premier Division to broaden the reach of the competition and to ensure each calibre of auctioneer was catered to. Sam Walmsley from Harcourts Cooper & Co was the winner of the 2021 REINZ National Real Estate Auctioneering Open Division. Tina Chamberlain from Apollo Auctions (last year’s Rising Star) was the runner up in the Open Division.
This result comes after two days of intense competition held at Events on Khyber in Grafton where 11 competitors from across the country were vying to be the best of the best in the Premier Division of this annual competition, with an additional 16 competitors in the Open Division. The major event sponsors for this year’s Championships were Property Press and ABC Photosigns.
Travers Smyth from Harcourts Cooper & Co was the winner of the Rising Star Competition where a 19-strong field competed to take home the Colin Brown Memorial Cup which shows a promising future for auctioneering in New Zealand. Daryll Roberts from Harcourts Monarch (Hamilton) was runner up in the Rising Star Division.
In the REINZ Auctioneering Schools’ Championship, Nimish Singh, a Year 13 student, at Kerikeri High School was the winner and Nicolas Powell, a Year 12, student at Kerikeri High School was the runner up.
Wendy Alexander, Acting Chief Executive at REINZ says: “This year saw the highest number of auctioneers from across the country battle it out for the title of champion since we started the competition 21 years ago. Every year the calibre of auctioneers gets higher and higher, and this year was certainly no exception. Congratulations to all our competitors and particularly to Conor, Mark, Sam and Travers for winning their respective divisions. We wish Conor and Mark all the best in October when they will head to Sydney to represent New Zealand and compete against the Australians to be the best auctioneer in Australasia.”
Mark Sumich, Chief Judge, commented: “New Zealand’s auctioneers have not had time to be side tracked by the pandemic. Their services have been in huge demand over the last year. What is obvious, is that these orators have not been idle between calls. Their preparations for the 2021 REINZ National Real Estate Auctioneering Championships were clearly appropriate as they expertly manufactured their way through the maze of bids on offer at the competition. This annual ‘Warrant of Fitness’ once again had a 100% pass rate.”