REAL ESTATE
Compiled by John O'Dell, Times staff writer
Auction ‘Em Off: The new home auction is growing in popularity as a tool for builders who are finding it increasingly difficult to sell homes in their inventories.
Prices at these events often start 20% to 40% below what the homes were listed for, and it may seem odd that a builder can afford to auction for $200,000 what it was selling for $300,000 two months ago. But it costs a builder a lot of money to keep an empty home in inventory; he pays interest, too, and sometimes there’s more profit in a quick sale than in hanging on.
