at Ray White Maroochydore

Dan Sowden

Each year Ray White Queensland hold their Auction Championships, an annual event showcasing the best of the best in auctioneers from across the state. 

It presents an opportunity for Ray White auctioneers to demonstrate their ability to build rhythm, flow, energy and excitement into an auction call; to not only win the crowd, but to win over an elite judging panel. 

This year's judges included Ray White Queensland’s chief auctioneer Gavin Croft: a multiple NSW and QLD auctioneer of the year winner, Ray White Victoria’s chief auctioneer Jeremy Tyrell: a past winner of the Victorian Auction Championship, and Clarence White who is the current Australasian Auction Champion.

In what was a stellar day of competition, the event saw Queensland’s best auctioneers go head to head to take home the championship title. This year Dan Sowden (pictured above), principal of Ray White Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast, won the title of Senior Auctioneer 2023.

No stranger to the auction process, Dan has spent the last 15 years calling auctions. Before he called his first property auction, had already called over 200 charity auctions. To date, he has given his time to calling somewhere north of 1000 charity auctions.

“You could say that auctions have formed the basis for my career in real estate. The very first property I ever listed for sale was an auction, and later on those same sellers purchased their next property with me at an auction. From very early on I was hooked on the process and I just love the energy and excitement that lives around the auction process,” Dan said.

Entering the competition for the first time, Dan certainly can’t attribute his win to beginner’s luck, with decades of experience honing his skills.

“I had never even considered participating in an auction competition. My preference has always been to toil away and improve my auction call, step-by-step, based on the feedback from other Ray White Auctioneers and agents I work with, or charity events I represent,” he said.

Winning the Senior Auctioneer Championship is no easy feat. Experienced callers are pushed to their limit and challenged in every way possible by a highly choreographed team of ‘mock buyers’. Responding to various types of buyers and increments in bids, it’s a delicate dance managing buyer and seller, fuelled by high energy and strategic negotiation.

“I see the auction call as an opportunity to advocate for the seller of the property, but also to provide a transparent negotiation for the buyer. There is immense emotion involved from all parties, but it’s also important to make the process an experience that no one will forget," Dan said.

"If people are going to stand there and listen to you talk for half an hour, then you have a responsibility to make it an interesting and enjoyable experience. I want everyone walking away regardless of the sale outcome thinking that it was well handled by our team,."

As a part of the Ray White Coastal Living Network (which consists of five Ray White offices on the Sunshine Coast: Maroochydore, Buderim, Mooloolaba, Kawana Waters, and Nambour), additional auctioneers who took part in this competition included James Goldsworthy, Jake Loiero, and Sarah-Louise Anderson. 

The auctioneers welcomed the chance to refine their skills in the lead up to their biggest auction event of the year, the Ray White Coastal Living Network’s Auction Event, where typically over 60 properties are auctioned by over 100 agents under one roof.