The Chicago Sun Times reports from Illinois. "Home sellers in Chicago's flagging housing market who are turning to auctions to unload their properties learned from a West Rogers Park auction that buyers will show up with checkbooks ready if the prices are right. About 75 would-be bidders were at a recent auction and watched as two new luxury houses, originally listed for $899,000, were bought for prices in the low $600,000s."

"'The ones that sold were in the low $600,000s,' auctioneer Rick Levin said. 'Then prices dropped below that, so the seller had the right to stop selling. This is consistent with what has been happening for the last seven or eight months.'"

"About three times as many anxious real estate sellers have asked the auctioneer for help moving their homes this year compared with last year, he said. Many are builders with a few units to move in a development or building. Others have luxury homes that are in less demand, he said."

"Levin said the 75 people who attended the auction Wednesday 'had come to buy,' but the sellers were hesitant to sell at low enough prices. Said Levin, 'The bet the developers were making was that the market would be better next year.'"

The Detroit Free Press. "In a dramatic sign of southeast Michigan's lagging housing market, properties with opening bids as low as $30,000 will be offered Sunday in what is believed to be the largest-ever auction of its kind in Michigan."

"Neumann Homes, a Chicago-based builder with extensive operations in Michigan, is trying to recoup its investment in the area by conducting a one-day auction of 87 homes, lots and condos in nine communities."

"'Every builder in the U.S. is facing a downturn, and everybody is left with excess inventory,' said Laurie Tarver, division president for Neumann Homes in Michigan. 'The bottom line is, no builder wants to do an auction, because it means you need to get the return quicker than you wanted.'"

"Neumann is putting 23 single-family homes, 24 condos and 40 building sites up for auction, including luxury homes and condos in Rochester Hills, Clarkston, Highland Township, Lake Orion, South Lyon, Milford, Southfield, Pontiac and Novi. Minimum opening bids will range from $30,000 to $200,000."

"'The advantage of having an auction as a builder is you have the opportunity to sell a lot of property in one day,' Tarver said. 'For consumers, it's the deal of a lifetime. It's definitely a buyers market.'"

"Bids for 21 of the homes, condos and lots will be sold on an absolute basis, meaning that they will be sold at the highest bid, regardless of the seller's desired minimum bid."

"Other Michigan builders are considering similar auctions. Jim Babcock, president of the Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan, recently put up for auction homes he built in Monroe. 'It's no secret that new home sales are slowing down and our members are doing all types of things to be creative and move product,' he said. 'Auctions are becoming more common.'"

"Permits in southeastern Michigan have fallen from 24,359 in 2004 to 7,429 for the first eight months of this year. But even as developers find it more difficult to sell properties, they say the downturn in the housing market is temporary and Michigan will be on the mend by 2008."

"'I think we're right around the bottom of this cycle,' said Robert Filka, CEO of the Michigan Association of Home Builders. 'It will probably take another 12 to 18 months before things start to pick back up.'"