It was the auction that went viral and divided Aussies. Now the property guru behind the footage tells the real story of what happened on the big day
An auction that sparked controversy when an Asian woman emerged as the winning bidder – leading many to mistakenly believe she was a foreign investor – has put a spotlight on the fraught state of Australia’s housing market.
Sydney auctioneer Tom Panos posted footage last week of an auction for a family home at Georges Hall, in Sydney’s south.
“Look at this Asian lady chasing away all the Lebanese bidders,” he said.
Mr Panos added: ‘Never mess with a determined Asian woman.’
However, shortly after Mr Panos shared the video on social media, the Asian woman was attacked by hundreds of online trolls.
“More and more foreign investors are buying Australian properties to leave vacant so they can expand their portfolios, while hardworking Australians struggle to find a place to rent, let alone buy a home,” said one.
An auction in Sydney sparked controversy when an Asian woman emerged as the winning bidder, leading many to mistakenly believe she was a foreign investor.
Auctioneer Tom Panos (pictured) shut down those who assumed she was a foreign buyer, saying Australian laws around foreign investment made this impossible
A second added: ‘Pauline Hanson warned us about this years ago.’
A third said: ‘It’s called greed and countries should be like Bali and Dubai and stop selling to foreign investors.’
Mr Panos shut down those who assumed the woman was a foreign buyer, telling Daily Mail Australia the laws barred foreign investment in Australia.
‘Foreign investors are not allowed to buy property unless it is a new-build development. It is illegal for a foreign investor to buy an older property like this,” he said.
‘Many people of Lebanese and Asian descent live in the area. There is a large cohort of people of Lebanese descent in Georges Hall and a large cohort of people of Asian descent in the Canterbury area of Bankstown.”
Many Australians echoed Mr Panos’ words and called out those who wrongly assumed the buyer was a foreigner.
One said: ‘My mother has lived in Australia since the 80s, speaks English but still has a strong accent.
“She has been an Australian citizen since 1990 and I bet many will think she is a foreign investor. We migrated here with only suitcases containing our clothes and not much money.
Mr Panos said the woman had been successful because she simply wanted the house more than her competitors and had more to spend
According to NAB bank, sales of new-build homes to foreign buyers reached a six-year high at the end of 2023
‘My parents owned dozens of properties and still do, all through hard work. It just shows how ignorant some people can be when they see successful people at auction who don’t “look” like they were born in Australia.”
Another added: Most likely these people have worked every day since they came to this country. Good for them. Tall Poppy Syndrome at its best here.”
Mr Panos said the woman had been successful because she simply wanted the house more than her competitors and had more to spend.
“You don’t have to be Einstein to understand it, she had a bigger budget,” he said.
He credited the woman with putting pressure on her latest competitor by taking another look at the bedrooms to slow down the pace of the auction.
He said the woman and her partner were “over the moon” and disagreed with speculation that they had paid too much for the house, which sold for more than $1.3 million.
In terms of current trends, Mr Panos said there was “really good” growth in the sub-$1.5 million price range, but units were harder to shift.
“One place where the market is being affected is the oversupply of units in large areas such as the Olympic Park, where there is an oversupply of shares,” he said.
Mr Panos said he felt “really sorry” for first-time buyers in the housing market and that high interest rates meant both renting and buying posed a financial challenge.
“There’s a lot of fear and despair right now, people are getting angry and upset because they won’t be able to achieve the dream,” he said.
‘This is an example of why the government must quickly get to work on repurposing and improving the real estate supply.
“The government is doing nothing to accommodate all the migrants they bring in.”
According to NAB bank, sales of new-build homes to foreign buyers reached a six-year high at the end of 2023.
“The overall result suggests that the market share of foreign buyers in Australia’s new home markets has increased almost fivefold since reaching a low of just over two per cent in mid-2021 during the Covid pandemic,” the NAB report said.
“Recovery has occurred despite record migration and reports of China reopening from the pandemic, leading to a surge of overseas interest in Australian properties, with international agents reporting a more than 400 per cent increase in inquiries.”