Worse, the potential buyer ended up not placing a bid because they were locked in a stalemate position while the contract on their existing property was finalised.

However, owners of the three-bedroom brick home on Algona Road, on the rural fringe of Albury at Springdale Heights, are still hoping for offers in the range of $480,000.

Agent Bob Packer, of Ray White Albury Central, said it was a mediocre result for what he understood to be the first auction of the year.

"We had to just pass it in with a view to negotiating with the single registered bidder on Tuesday," Mr Packer said.

"The bidder was in a tricky situation because they had to wait until the contract on the sale of their property became unconditional, so even though they were registered as a bidder, they aren't really in a position to place a bid until, we expect, Tuesday.

"This is a very disappointing result, but that's just the way it is."

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However, Mr Packer, like many agents, maintained his optimism and said the nonevent was a "one-off glitch".

"Our clearance rate on auctions is 82 per cent - this is a one-off - this will bring that 18-month stat down a bit," he said.

"We were expecting others to register as bidders but they didn't do so, that's an indication of what's going on out there at the moment regarding auctions.

"But we're certainly selling plenty - we sold one yesterday for $10,000 over the asking price, the first two or three sales of the year have all been over asking price so today is just one of those things.

"Auctions have always been the best system, they're transparent, the act is so strict agents just can't do anything dodgy. Today is very unusual, especially after weeks of no auctions."

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