The real estate editor of Everything AL has posted a new story predicting more auctions for nearby states based on Floridas real estate auction trends and volume over the last two years.

From the article:
Auction companies were booked in Florida this year, and auctioneers expect the trend to hit Alabama's Gulf Coast next year. With 2,788 condominium units for sale at the Gulf, auctions will get the sales activity moving, according to the firms, and some area real estate agencies are looking at auctions as a way to reduce their listings.

Sellers on the Gulf Coast haven't reached the desperate or urgent level seen in Florida sellers, according to William Bone of The National Auction Group. "You didn't have the hurricanes, and that took a lot of fear out of the market," he said. Still, he added, "the market can never come back as long as there are thousands of unsold condos."

Auctions are up nationally, according to the National Auctioneers Association in Overland, Kan. Industry revenue totaled $257.2 billion in 2006 and is projected to hit $269.6 billion in 2007, according to NAA.

Residential real estate is the fastest-growing segment of the live auction industry, increasing by 12.5 percent in 2006 and generating $16 billion. Residential revenue had increased by 3.1 percent at the end of the second quarter of this year.

By KATHY JUMPER
Real Estate Editor

Robbie Jaeger's client had looked at the eight-bedroom Gulf-front house in Gulf Shores last summer when it was listed for $2.9 million. When the 5,300-square-foot house hit the auction block earlier this month, Jaeger's customer traveled from Missouri to bid -- and won it for $1.65 million.

"He's going to furnish it and put it on the rental market," said Jaeger, of Meyer Real Estate in Gulf Shores. He and a colleague, Eric Nelson, received a 3 percent commission for bringing the buyer to the table, Jaeger said.

Auction companies were booked in Florida this year, and auctioneers expect the trend to hit Alabama's Gulf Coast next year. With 2,788 condominium units for sale at the Gulf, auctions will get the sales activity moving, according to the firms, and some area real estate agencies are looking at auctions as a way to reduce their listings.
        
Auctions are up nationally, according to the National Auctioneers Association in Overland, Kan. Industry revenue totaled $257.2 billion in 2006 and is projected to hit $269.6 billion in 2007, according to NAA.

Residential real estate is the fastest-growing segment of the live auction industry, increasing by 12.5 percent in 2006 and generating $16 billion. Residential revenue had increased by 3.1 percent at the end of the second quarter of this year.

"I think we'll see 18 months of more auctions -- 2009 will be the barn burner," said Jason Haynes of Coastal Auction Co. "So many people in south Baldwin County gasp when they hear the word auction. But you've got to find the bottom (of the market) before you can come up. You will never know it unless you get a lot of this stuff moving."

Local real estate investor Joe Cook plans to offer 210 acres on Baldwin County 91 and Sunset Drive in Lillian for sale at auction on Dec. 4, with 78 of those acres to be auctioned "absolute," or with no minimum bid, according to The National Auction Group in Gadsden. A bayfront residential lot on Fort Morgan Road owned by Cook will also be offered

"It's a way for me to find out what the market value really is," Cook said, adding that he would never put all his real estate investments up for auction. In fact, he said he'd take the auction profits and buy more property at the Gulf.

"This is simply a business decision," he said.

Sellers on the Gulf Coast haven't reached the desperate or urgent level seen in Florida sellers, according to William Bone of The National Auction Group. "You didn't have the hurricanes, and that took a lot of fear out of the market," he said. Still, he added, "the market can never come back as long as there are thousands of unsold condos."

It takes an event to bring serious buyers to an auction, and the most popular method to do that is an absolute auction with no set price, according to Bone.

"Before they get in their car, whether it's a doctor in Birmingham or a lawyer in Nashville, the first question they ask is, "Is it absolute?" Bone said. 

His company's next auction on Nov. 17 in Gulf Shores is absolute and includes a three-bedroom house in Foley and several properties in Gulf Shores -- eight townhomes in Cotton Creek Estates, a beachfront condo unit in Ocean House and two commercial condo units.

"If it's not an absolute auction, then people are just fishing," said Pete Vakakes of Ono Professional Partners in Gulf Shores, who sees an auction as "just another way of marketing real estate."

To reduce the current considerable inventory at the Gulf sellers have to price their property competitively, according to Vakakes. Pre-Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, there were fewer than 200 Gulf-front properties for sale on the 32-mile Gulf Coast. Now there are more than 2,700 condo units for sale, including Gulf-front units and those on back bay waters.

"You have to move the prices where somebody will buy it," Vakakes said. "I'm not talking about bottoming things out. You've got to get more realistic. And if the sellers aren't motivated, they should take their property off the market."

Coastal Auction's client had 18 lots to sell in Paddock Trace on Baldwin County 12 in Gulf Shores last week. Five lots offered at absolute auction sold for under $30,000 each, according to Haynes.

"There were 900 homes sold in Michigan at auction and 300 in Minnesota," this year, Haynes said. "It's really hard to get that money down here when that's going on. We have to find the numbers to make the faithful Georgia, Mississippi and Southeast buyers spend their money here."

Auctions can help folks who are in a bind and need to sell, and auctions can also be an investment tool, Haynes said. "It's a super time to free up some of your investments and diversify. A lot of people are making moves to free up some cash with auctions and grab onto other opportunities."

Auctions work great for some people, while others frown on it, according to Jaeger of Meyer Real Estate. "You have to have a target price going in to bid," he said, "and if it doesn't hit the mark, you have to know when to stop."