Auction Industry Sees Revenue Growth in Real Estate

The ""National Auctioneers Association"":http://www.auctioneers.org (NAA), headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, released the results of its 2008 industry survey this week. The report showed an increase in revenue from residential real estate sold at auction.
Since the NAA began tracking the industry in 2003, gross receipts from real estate auctions have increased each year. Last year, residential real estate auctions increased 1.1 percent, along with land and agricultural real estate, which grew 0.5 percent. Commercial real estate dipped 1.4 percent in 2008, the association said.
NAA said REO properties were a major contributor to the industry’s growth in 2008, noting that banks frequently contract professional auctioneers to sell foreclosed properties at auction, as well as refer auctioneers to customers with troubled assets and use them to sell their own foreclosed properties.
NAA President Randy Wells, said, ""The results of the industry survey are consistent with what we continually hear from auctioneers across the country. While some sectors of the industry have been impacted by the economy, others have grown or held strong. Consumers continue to attend auctions to find treasures and sellers continue to utilize professional auctioneers to help turn their assets into cash.""
Although residential real estate and particularly REOs contributed a bump in auction revenue, NAA reported that overall, goods and services sold at auction in the United States decreased slightly less than 1 percent compared to 2007. In 2008, approximately $268.4 billion in goods and services were sold at auction, the association said.