"It’s the first of its kind in SA and we are hoping it will change the way business is done," says eProp MD Frank Reardon.

The eProp team, which has also put together commercial and industrial property portal

www.eProp.co.za, will be facilitating the auction of a Randburg office block owned by Zenprop.

The 4000m² office block with road frontage in Pretoria Avenue in Randburg is already attracting interested parties to the auction site at

www.propertyauctions.co.za, says Reardon.

"Commercial property players normally go through property brokers or auctioneers. This (online auction) is a much more effective marketing tool because at a very small cost they have the ability to target thousands of industry practitioners and investors through our existing online community."

Conventional auctions command fees sometimes as high as 15% of the sales price, while online sellers need only pay a small registration and listing fee plus 1% commission payable on a successful sale, says Reardon. Buyers pay a small registration fee and no commission on purchases.