Condo auction: Gone in 60 seconds

ST. PETERSBURG - Hundreds of bargain hunters packed into a hotel ballroom Sunday to bid on condominiums being offered at auction.

On the block were units in Signature Place, a lonely new high rise that rose during the building boom. Its developer has been thrust into the discount auction by the bank.

Prices varied during the fast-paced afternoon auction, but were reduced by 40% compared to the developer's most recent asking price.

"I think people are going to get some good deals today," said Barb Thomas, a real estate agent who specializes in downtown St. Pete properties.

Properties sold in a matter of seconds. An auctioneer barked numbers into a microphone. And as potential buyers raised their black and white number paddles into the air, the auctioneer's colleagues shouted back to him.

"Last and final," the auctioneer poked the crowd.

"Sell it," someone exclaimed.

When the staccato back and forth ended, applause erupted. A bidder snagged a two bedroom condo for $321,000. The same home was most recently listed for $555,875.

Accelerated Marketing Partners said 400 bidders registered for the auction, following a preview of the property that attracted as many as 10,000 potential buyers.

Tom Blatt was among those looking to bid.

"My father lives in town, I was thinking I could get my father to move in there," he said.

Jon Gollinger, whose firm organized the auction, said the turnout was a positive sign for the local area real estate market. It could spark a buying boom far beyond downtown St. Petersburg, according to Gollinger.

"This is a very good thing for the market, the fact that so many people came to bid on this property today," he said.

Gollinger said the near simultaneous sale of several dozen condos will provide a pricing compass that will be applied regionally. That, he said, should then motivate uncommitted buyers.

"You should see a lot of movement in Tampa and St. Pete as a result of this sale," he said.