Miami Herald: Banks auction homes at fire-sale prices

Another sign of desperation in the South Florida housing market: banks tired of paying taxes and upkeep on foreclosed homes put 200 up for auction Saturday in Fort Lauderdale.

Ranging from the most modest one-bedroom efficiency condos to five-bedroom houses worth close to a million dollars at the height of the market, these once-dignified symbols of the American dream were reduced to tiny thumbnail photos in an auctioneer's guidebook.

''It's very bittersweet,'' said Realtor Renee Dworkin, who accompanied several clients to the sell-off. ``Each one of these homes represents heartache for someone.''

• The bidding for a three-bedroom, two-bath house in Wilton Manors topped out at $161,000. The asking price during an open house last week was $229,000.

• A three-bedroom house in Miami Shores that sold for $460,000 two years ago, went for $177,500.

• A two-bedroom house in Coral Gables that sold for $670,000 in September 2005, fetched a bid of $300,000. The buyer declined to give his name, but said he plans to rent it out.

All of the homes have been on the market from three months to a year. They had become what Realtors call ''stale properties,'' said Crystal Wright, a public relations strategist working for the auction firm, Hudson & Marshall.

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Banks are highly motivated sellers these days, Wright said.

The company has 400 properties for sale statewide. It will hold another auction in Orlando on Sunday. They'll be back in Florida in 90 days for another round of sales, Webb said.

In addition to several cities in Florida, Las Vegas and Detroit are also home to large foreclosure auctions, Wright said.

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VILLANOVA, Pa. - Sen. John McCain offered the broadest look yet at his economic policies during appearances Tuesday in Pennsylvania, proposing tax reductions and backing away from his pledge to balance the budget by the end of his first term.

In a speech in Pittsburgh, delivered on the April 15 deadline for filing taxes, there was a dash of populism, as McCain criticized executive pay and corporate wrongdoing. There was a strong supply-side bent, with McCain focusing on cutting corporate taxes and making permanent the Bush tax cuts that he once opposed. There was a less hawkish note on deficits, as he called for spending cuts but did not mention balancing the budget.

With the address, McCain sought to overcome the impression that he does not understand the economy well and the idea being pushed by his Democratic rivals that he does not comprehend the economic pain felt by many Americans.

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