English language property auctions required in NSW

NSW Fair Trading says property auctions should be conducted in English, but current laws do not prevent an auction being translated into a different language. 

The issued flared after a recent A Current Affair report on Melbourne auctions.

Auctioneer Robert Ding at Marshall White Boroondara was profiled on a report entitled 'Chinese buyers taking over the housing market', which focused on his dual-language talents during a house auction.

Ding thought the report was one sided.

“The auction footage had me talking in Mandarin but I was also translating it to English and vice-versa,” he told Real Estate Business.

David Scholes, founder and principal of auctionWORKS, does not have a problem with dual language auctioneers conducting auctions in another language in areas where offshore buyers predominate.

“As long as the auction is conducted primarily in English, and when I say primarily I mean completely in English with parts such as prices and relevant topics regarding terms and conditions being translated into other languages, then I don’t see why anyone would have a problem with it,” Scholes said.