I went to an auction yesterday. The agent was quoting an expected value of X $. The general talk was that the fair value was approx 20% lower than the agent's line. The auction did not receive a bid from the 6 registered buyers. Then the auctioneer announced a vendors bid at approx 3% under what the agent had been quoting and the property was passed in. So now the agent will tell the world that the property was passed in at the amount of the vendor bid without necessarily declaring the auction did not actually receive a genuine bid. I believe this is a dishonest and misleading strategy as the price is not being determined by market forces.
