"It can be quite nerve wracking but it's definitely worth it, especially with what the market is like at the moment. You don't know what your property's worth. We would've struggled to put a number on it."
Eves and Bayleys Real Estate chief executive Ross Stanway believed auctions offered the best way to determine the value of a property.
"It's only an auction that shows what the market is willing to pay."
Eves alone had about 25 auctions each week for the past two months which was an increase on its already-busy auction schedule, he said.
In May to July this year, 93 per cent of the agency's properties that were auctioned sold, Mr Stanway added.
"I think more people now are understanding how an auction works.
"I think they understand the best way to get the best price for their property is to go for auction." As in the Majors' case, it was becoming increasingly common for properties to get pre-auction offers and the auction to be moved forward.
Mr Stanway said auctions were a win-win for the vendor and potential buyers.
"It's so transparent. People compete out in the open."
QVhomevalue registered valuer David Hume said it was getting harder to do an accurate valuation.
"Given the market is moving very quickly at present it can make it challenging, although attending auctions and good communication with real estate agents to obtain the most recent comparable sales information is of utmost importance, as it always is in our profession."
Mr Hume said anyone looking for a current full market value of their home should get an individual inspection of the property and a full market valuation report done.
"Rating revaluations are carried out every three years. For Tauranga, the last rating revaluation was done as at July 1, 2012. So the rating values were now three years out of date in terms of market values.
"Given that rating valuations are a fit-for-purpose mass appraisal method designed for rating purposes only and they do not include chattels they are not an appropriate guide to current market value for an individual property.
"They are also carried out at a set date in time once every three years and are not designed to be used as a guide to current market valuation of an individual property."
Harcourts managing director Simon Martin said Harcourts was also doing a considerably more auctions than at the corresponding time last year.
He believed the number of Aucklanders buying in the Tauranga market made a difference because they were savvy to the auction process and vendors knew that and clicked on to it.
"Once people understand it, they realise it's not a scary process."
Mount Maunganui and Papamoa Ray White Realty Focus franchise owner Greg Purcell said it was "almost impossible" to pre-empt the price a house would sell for this year.
"I think we've gone away from being able to pre-empt what it'll sell for and that's why you've seen such a move towards auctions."
As a result, more people were opting for that option.
"I think possibly people who haven't thought of going to auction before are now going that way."
However, auctions were also an opportunity for buyers to be surprised and pick up a property in their range, Mr Purcell said.
"I don't want to create the illusion that every property that goes to auction has buyers crawling all over it," he said.
"Not every auction is a rock and roll circus."
However, First National owner for Mount Maunganui, Tauranga and Omokoroa Anton Jones said more of his clients were opting not to sell by auction.
Some vendors thought the auction process could scare off potential buyers or the cost of due diligence just to bid would put them off.
Some vendors were just put off by the pressure of an auction, he said.
"Some people don't like auctions as a vendor because it's a very nerve-wracking process."
However, First National did offer sales by all four different processes: set price, price by negotiation, tender and auction.
"We do the whole lot and decide case by case."
In the cases where vendors were opting to go to auction, multiple offers were being made only a week into the marketing period and the auction was being brought forward and the process became very similar to a price-by-negotiation deal anyway, Mr Jones said.
Sellers who thought their property could get more than they were hoping for often opted for auction but that was something they could also achieve in price by negotiation, he said.
