Two bidders engaged in a quietly polite but fierce duel lasting close to 10 minutes on Saturday morning for a two-bedroom brick home close to Albury's CBD.
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Before the auction kicked off on March 2, auctioneer Jack Stean told the crowd how the market had "well and truly gained momentum" after a slow start to the year.
"Things are at the moment are extremely strong, sometimes in January it's a little bit tougher but as we came into February and now March, it is getting really strong, there's more confidence back in the market," Mr Stean said.
"We sold two properties at auction last weekend, this one has been well-inspected, a good crowd here today, I hope we can get an offer."
Mr Stean told onlookers the property's vendors "were talking mid-fives" when the first bid came in: "$540,000".
This was quickly met with a counter-bid of $550,000 then the jousting began between just two bidders in increments of $5000 until it reached $605,000.
At this point, Mr Stean dashed into the house, consulted with the vendor, then returned and announced the property was officially on the market for $605,000, drawing a counter-bid of $610,000.
When the winning bidder's call of $615,000 sealed the deal with her opponent bowing down, the crowd of 60 broke into applause.
An hour later at 11.30am, just a kilometre and a half away, a similar-sized crowd gathered at another property being auctioned.
The four-bedroom brick house on Jones Street, marketed as a Californian bungalow-style home, was built in 1933.
Auctioneer Lachlan Hutchins told the crowd the house was in a sought-after part of Albury and a good example of a house that had been superbly renovated and extended by Albury-Wodonga builder Ash Wills.
It features ornate ceilings, polished oak floors and lead-light windows.
"I'm sure a few people here will know Ash is a great builder - you can't have him anymore because he's retired - but every house that Ash Wills has ever renovated, they've always been sought after," Mr Hutchins said.
He opened the auction with a vendor's bid of $1.2 million. It was passed in for that amount.
Another Albury property at 759 Pemberton Street that was earmarked to be auctioned on Saturday morning, sold before auction for "in excess of $700,000", agent Jack Stean said.
Two commercial properties sold for more than $1.7 million combined at auction on Friday, March 1.
