How good are the prices at real-estate auctions? At a December 2008 auction for units at the McKinley Park Lofts (2323 West Pershing Road), bidders paid about half what conventional buyers had spent for units there just a few years earlier. One buyer paid $186,500 for a unit similar to one that went for $384,000 in November 2006—a savings of 51.4 percent. Another paid $133,500, a 52.3 percent savings over comparable sales in December 2006 and March 2007 (both those units went for $280,000). The bidders on a third unit didn’t fare quite so well: They paid $192,500, saving a mere 47.1 percent over a comparable March 2007 sale ($364,000).

Send tips about high-end home sales to dennis@rodkin.com.