A dozen rowhomes were auctioned off Thursday in and around the Patterson Park neighborhood. That's particularly noteworthy because they belonged to the Patterson Park Community Development Corp., a nonprofit group that was the driving force in that neighborhood's revitalization but fell victim to the housing slump. It filed for bankruptcy protection in February.

More about that in today's story. But the auctions -- held back-to-back from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. -- are worth paying attention to even if you're not interested in Patterson Park. They're a sign of change, and not only since the bubble days.

The average price was $70,000. I thought "ouch," because they'd been refinanced for $110,000 on average in early 2007. But auctioneer Daniel Billig with A.J. Billig & Co. said it was about 30 percent more than his company had been expecting.

Nine months ago, he said, investors "weren't even coming to the auctions. I had some really great properties that I either didn't sell or I had a very tough time. I would say since the beginning of May, we've gotten progressively better. Better results, better turnout."

Max Spann Jr. calls auctions "a little stock market of real estate." I watched one of his company's little stock markets in action over the weekend.

You can read about it here, but the upshot was 19 Dewey Beach condos with original asking prices of $399,000 to $850,000 selling for $240,000 to $585,000.

The New Jersey-based Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co. ran the event differently than auctions I've seen before, where something goes on the auction block and people bid specifically on that something. In this case, the format was "bidder's choice" -- the condos were offered up in batches and the winning bidder picked the one he or she wanted. Then people bid on the remaining condos in the batch, and the next winner opted for his or her favorite of the ones left over, and so on.

As it happened, the condo with the most expensive asking price in the Marina View complex in Dewey Beach was not the one that got the highest bid.

Continue reading "Auctions (and what to know before you go)" »