Daily Real Estate News  |  August 1, 2006  |   Real Estate Fuels Live Auction Industry
The live auction industry has grown to $255 billion, with real estate leading all the other categories in growth.

Revenue from live auctions grew by 6.3 percent in the first half of 2006 compared with the same period from a year ago, according to recent surveys of members of the National Auctioneers Association conducted by MORPACE, an international research firm, and Harris Interactive.

The hottest category of all auctions, residential real estate, grew by 4.4 percent in the first half of 2006, after an 8.4 percent increase in 2005 over 2004. Also, outperforming other auction categories were land and agricultural auctions, which increased by 7 percent, and commercial and industrial, up 4.9 percent in 2005.

Tommy Williams, president-elect of NAA and a Tulsa, Okla., auctioneer who specializes in real estate, says growth in both distressed and non-distressed types of sales has been comparable at his company, Williams & Williams. “The increase for both is pretty constant,” he says.

Key to the increase is greater acceptance by consumers and real estate practitioners. “People are beginning to understand the concept,” he says, noting that changes in traditional real estate, such as buyer brokerage, have also been a catalyst.

Forty percent of consumers who responded to the survey say they believe residential real estate will be more frequently sold through live auctions in the future.

“Auctions bring the advantage of the certainty that the sale is going to close in 30 days,” Williams says. Sellers also have the option of setting a minimum sale price.

Learn more about this specialty at REALTOR.org’s Auction home page.

— By Camilla McLaughlin for REALTORŪ Magazine Online