State Capitol "sold" for $1 billion

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The auctioneer is clad in a shirt that looks for all the world like the Texas state flag. He takes a deep breath and dives in to a mock auction.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he calls, "auction's on, on the Capitol. How many dollars where, $2 million here, now three there, now $4 million.”

He falls quickly into a steady cadence, punctuated by high notes as the fever pitch begins to gather steam. The process continues for several minutes as visitors to the Capitol join in the fun and begin "bidding" wildly. Then, it is over.

"Oh, we've sold it," the auctioneer shouts. "$1 billion, the state of Texas Capitol."

Applause fills the Capitol rotunda and a couple of hundred people walk away with a new appreciation for an old art.

In fact, some people say auctioneering is the world’s "second oldest profession," behind, well, you can probably figure that one out. However old it may be, though, the auction block is as relevant today as it ever was.

"If you go to Australia, roughly 90 percent of the homes go on the auction block first and then go traditional if they haven't sold at auction," said Texas Auction Academy owner Mike Jones. "But auction is the predominant way. Consequently, the same thing for South Africa, New Zealand, places like that."

What about Austin, Texas, though. Is that sort of thing in our future?

"It's coming," Jones predicted.

His Dallas-based school is 17 years old and is "still rocking and rolling," Jones said. "We just finished a class in Dallas; we had 30 students in there. And it will range; you'll see everyone from attorneys and bankers, mortgage lenders to truck drivers."

He and a couple of dozen other auctioneers from around the state were at the Capitol for the final day of an exhibit arranged by PolkaWorks , a media company at work on a documentary on auctioneering. The project earned the enthusiastic endorsement of the Texas Auctioneers Association . Producer Lori Najvar expects it to be completed within a year to a year and a half. Meanwhile, the multimedia exhibit is expected to tour the state later this year.