All of the homes have been on the market from three months to a year. They had become what Realtors call ''stale properties,'' said Crystal Wright, a public relations strategist working for the auction firm, Hudson & Marshall.

Dolan reports on Saturdays Auction in Fort Lauderdale. From the article:

Saturday's winning bidders were escorted to a contract room behind the auction floor, where they had to put down a 5 percent brokerage fee -- on top of the bid price. That serves as the deposit. If the bank accepts the bid, the buyer has 30 days to come up with the money. If a buyer can't get a loan, or pay cash, the deposit is lost.

The ballroom held about 300 bidders and Realtors at any given time during the four-hour auction, mostly investors looking for homes to flip or generate rental income.

• The bidding for a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Wilton Manors topped out at $161,000. The asking price during an open house last week was $229,000.
• A two-bedroom house in Coral Gables that sold for $670,000 in September 2005, fetched a bid of $300,000. The buyer declined to give his name, but said he plans to rent it out.
• A three-bedroom house in Miami Shores that sold for $460,000 two years ago, went for $177,500.