"More anecdotal rubbish! What are you basing this on?"
As opposed to your rubbish. Why on earth would somebody buy under auction conditions if they don't have to? 30 day settlement time, larger deposit etc when you can buy under normal sale conditions and have a significantly longer settlement period, the chance to get bank approval (while you can get pre-approval it is always better if you have the opportunity to back out if the bank doesn't like the deal), you can secure the property for as little as $1000. No if you don't understand why it is better to not to buy under auction conditions then it just shows how limited your view of the world is. Not to mention that an auction is a very daunting and stressful event for most people without experience. All the auctions results show is the market is slowing nothing more nothing less and more and more property will be sold under non-auction conditions where it will take longer to sell until the market heats up again.
