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 which sparked controversy when an Asian woman emerged as the winning bidder – leading many to mistakenly believe she was a foreign investor – has  highlighted the fraught state of Australia’s housing market. 

Sydney auctioneer Tom Panos posted footage from an auction for a family home in Georges Hall, in Sydney’s south, last week.

‘Watch how this Asian lady scares all the Lebanese bidders away,’ 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 foreign investors are buying Australian property to lay vacant so they can expand their portfolios while hardworking Australians struggle to find a rental, let alone buy a house,’ one said.

Auctioneer Tom Panos (pictured) shut down those assuming she was a foreign buyer, and said 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 need to be like Bali and Dubai and stop selling to foreign investors.’

Mr Panos shut down those assuming the woman was a foreign buyer, and told Daily Mail Australia laws made foreign investment impossible in Australia. 

‘Foreign investors are not allowed to buy real estate unless it’s a new development. It’s illegal to buy an older property like this one as a foreign investor,’ he said.

‘There are a lot of people of Lebanese and Asian descent in the area. There’s a high cohort of people that have got Lebanese heritage in Georges Hall and a high cohort of people of Asian descent in the Canterbury, Bankstown area.’

Many Aussies echoed Mr Panos’ words, and called out those who incorrectly assumed the buyer was foreign. 

One said: ‘My mother has lived in Australia since the 80s, can speak English but still has a strong accent. 

‘She’s been an Australian citizen since 1990 and I bet many will think she’s a foreign investor. We migrated here with only suitcases of our clothes and not much money whatsoever. 

Mr Panos said the woman had been successful because she had simply wanted the house more than her competitors and had more to spend 

Sales of newly-built homes to foreign buyers reached a six-year high at the end of 2023, according to NAB bank

‘My parents have owned dozens of properties and still do, all from hard work. Just shows how ignorant some people can be when they see successful people at auctions who don’t “look” Australian born.’

Another added: Most likely these people have been working every day since coming to this country. Good on them. Tall poppy syndrome at its finest right here.’

Mr Panos said the woman had been successful because she had simply wanted the house more than her competitors and had more to spend.

‘You don’t have to be Einstein to figure it out, she had a bigger budget,’ he said.

He credited the woman with applying pressure to her final competitor by taking another look at the bedrooms to slow down the rhythm of the auction.

He said the woman and her partner were ‘over the moon’ and disagreed with speculation they had paid too much for the home, which sold for more than $1.3million.

In terms of current trends, Mr Panos said there was some ‘really good’ growth in the under $1.5million price point but that units were harder to shift.

‘One place where the market is being impacted is the over-supply of units in big pockets like Olympic Park where there is an oversupply of stock,’ he said.

Mr Panos said he felt ‘really sorry’ for first-time buyers and that high interest rates meant both renting and buying were financially challenging.

‘There’s a lot of angst and despair right now, people getting angry and upset that they’re not going to be able to achieve the dream,’ he said.

‘This is an example of why the government needs to get in quickly with rezoning and improving the supply of real estate.

‘The government is not doing anything to house all the migrants they’re bringing in.’

Sales of newly-built homes to foreign buyers reached a six-year high at the end of 2023, according to NAB bank.

‘The overall result suggests there has been a near five-fold rise in foreign buyer market share in new Australian home markets since hitting a low of just over two per cent during the Covid-pandemic in mid-2021,’ the NAB report said.

‘Recovery has occurred against record migration and reports of China’s post-pandemic reopening sparking a surge of foreign interest in Australian housing, with international agents reporting a rise in enquiries of over 400 per cent.’