Jacinta Hocking puts down the microphone and picks up the gavel

Picking up the gavel and dropping her title as chief of staff of Channel 10 after 20 years in television, Jacinta Hocking is joining the boy’s club as one of a handful of female auctioneers in Sydney.

Joining the firm at Cooley Auctions with mentor Damien Cooley, Ms Hocking turned to real estate in her late-30s and started her career over.

“I’ve always loved property, always dealt with property, always bought and sold property, been involved with redevelopments, strata committees… In the media all my colleagues at Channel 10 knew I loved property,” she said.

“I just decided it was time to make the move into that, challenge myself again and get a new career going.”

Initially looking at real estate sales, she quickly realised that it was auctioneering that would see her excel.

“I thought my background of presenting, negotiating and the communicating skills lent themselves perfectly to auctioneering,” she said.

Married, and with a baby on the way, in the past 12 months she completed a real estate agent licensing course, attained her auctioneer accreditation and began “work experience”, just as she did as a 15-year-old at Channel 10.

While the sale of homes may be a far cry from covering the Macquarie Fields riots, as she did on camera in 2005, she said the skills of television journalism have given her an edge in dealing with the unpredictable nature of auctions

“What I love about auctioneering is that – just like reporting – every day is different, every auction is different,” she said.

“You never know what someone is going to throw at you and even 95 per cent of the way through an auction you think it’s going in one direction, and all of a sudden there comes along another bidder and it takes another path.”

Yet it’s not just her previous career helping shape her into a top auctioneer, it’s also her gender.

“When you think about it, women are the absolute driving force behind most of the property buying and selling decisions,” she said.

“I think there certainly might be a warmth and an engaging style that women can offer – perhaps a little more patience and more listening as well.

“You might find that my auction won’t be quite as fast and furious and macho as the boys, that doesn’t mean they’re doing it wrongly… But I do think there is something different that a woman can bring to it and I think you see that in the response we’re getting from the agents and the clients.”

Female auctioneers are still a novelty in Australia’s real estate capital – the Real Estate Institute of NSW president Malcolm Gunning counted just five to six full-time female auctioneers compared to up to 40 male auctioneers.

At their recent novice auction competition, 35 per cent of those who participated were women.

“We have seen a rapid rise and acceptance of female auctioneers in what has previously been a male-dominated industry,” Mr Gunning said.

An auctioneer for 15 years, and founder of the only female-led auctioneering agency in Sydney, Kate Lumby said the make up of an auctioneer is evolving and becoming more female.

Only 30 years ago women were not accepted as sales agents, she said, while now it’s more commonplace.

“A lot of older auctioneers are hanging up their gavels and we’re seeing a new type of auctioneering,” Ms Lumby said.

“It used to be the case that it was confronting at an auction, that the auctioneer would intimidate the buyers.

“I want buyers to be as comfortable as possible with no barrier – people want to feel comfortable and women have the skills to do that,” she said.

She believes women are well-placed to change the industry.

“I was an auctioneer up until I was eight and a half months pregnant and a lot of the buyers were pregnant too – this gave us a connection outside of the auction,” she said.

“Female auctioneers have an affinity with the home and an ability to make close connections with people.”