Yeah mrlunoon I have seen this before a few years ago on a property I was looking at buying. It seemed ridiculous to me at the time as well where you just had one party bidding against the vendor. Why on earth didn't they just let it get passed in so they could negotiate after the action I don't know - after all why buy under auction conditions if you don't have to!
I think Kingpins is right in the fact that many people that aren't used to auctions can get locked into the euphoria of what is going on, or simply the stress of the situation makes them do things they wouldn't do normally. Bidding on an auction for something financially as large as a house is certainly a stressful experience the first time you do it and it is certainly not for everyone as you have to remain cool calm and collected and be confident in your actions and only go to your bid limit.
