Women in Canberra real estate leading the auction pack

According to the Real Estate Institute of the ACT, Canberra’s real estate industry is comprised of 59.1 per cent women, yet there’s a huge disparity when it comes to auctioneering.

While ACT registration and licensing does not differentiate between agents and auctioneers, there are only five known female auctioneers to REIACT – out of the 1061 licensed agents in the nation’s capital.

This means one of Canberra’s newest auctioneers, Peter Blackshaw Manuka agent Jenna Dunley, will joining a very small club.

She entered the Apollo Auctions 2018 Auctioneering Competition – a nationwide competition – and was the winner in the novice section.

“I was stoked, I certainly didn’t expect to win,” she says.

Dunley, who is 23, called her first two auctions last weekend. She has been training as an auctioneer since late 2017.

“Auctioneering has given me a lot of confidence, on a personal level and a sales level. It has helped me understand the process much more than I did before,” she says.

​LJ Hooker Kippax managing director Sandra Masters started in the real estate industry 15 years ago. She began her career at LJ Hooker Batemans Bay.

Masters only took up auctioneering when she moved to Canberra full time four years ago. She says one of the primary reasons she moved here was to become an auctioneer after discovering that there wasn’t enough scope in Batemans Bay.

“It was an incredible opportunity to put myself out there,” she says.

“There weren’t enough women auctioneers and I think we bring a specific and unique set of skills to auctions.”

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Masters says she hasn’t felt any pushback as a female auctioneer.

“I think it’s the opposite. I’ve actually received a lot of gigs because I am a female. I get a lot of surprised reactions from auction crowds and I love that part as well,” she says.

“People say to me, ‘you are a really good female auctioneer’, but that’s never been my focus, I just want to be a good auctioneer.”

Louise Harget at a recent auction. Photo: Lucy Bladen

Like Sandra, Belle Property co-principal Louise Harget has been in the real estate industry for 15 years.

“I started auctioneering 10 years ago and I now call between 40 to 50 auctions a year,” says Harget.

“It’s fun to call auctions but there’s also a huge sense of responsibility to do the right thing and maximise the price, and make the buyers feel comfortable as well.

“It’s important to be neutral and as inclusive as possible. I think that’s the one thing women do really nicely.”

Harget says she has been met with some hesitation but for the most part has felt very supported.

“I get a lot of compliments, more so from women who come up to me after an auction and tell me I have done a good job, and that it’s great to see a female doing what is predominantly a male position,” she says.

“Typically men have stronger voices and I think that’s probably why it’s been a more male-dominated industry in the auctioneering side of real estate.”

Holly Komorowski talking to the crowd before an auction. Photo: Graham Tidy

Holly Komorowski, director of home.byholly, entered the novice REIACT auctioneering competition a few years ago.

Since opening her own agency in 2016, Komorowski says she is yet to call an auction because she’s found a love for liasing with buyers on the ground and holding their hand throughout the auction experience.

“I think females are fabulous auctioneers. As the agency grows, I’d love to take up auctioneering one day,” she says.

“Obviously there is a lot of emotion for everyone involved in buying and selling a house, so it’s important to handle everything with consideration and care. I think women are very good at reading people and the situation.”