Sales generated through auctions — including residential, commercial and agricultural properties — totaled $58.6 billion in 2008, up 38 percent from $42.3 billion in 2003, according to a recently released tally by the National Auctioneers Association, a trade group based in Overland Park, Kan.
Most of the recent activity and attention has focused on the residential sector, with an increasing number of homeowners being forced into foreclosure. But commercial auctions are expected to pick up this year as property owners and developers seek to raise cash to pay off loans or are forced into foreclosure themselves.
“We’ve seen two years of residential downturn,” said David E. Gilmore, a managing partner at the Sperry Van Ness Accelerated Marketing Company, an auction and brokerage firm with offices in several states. Noting that commercial real estate generally lags behind residential by 18 to 24 months in a downturn, Mr. Gilmore added, “We’re there.”
New York City 2010
