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Article Courtesy of The News-Press
By Dick Hogan
Published
November 22, 2010
Jack
Eggspuehler of Cape Coral was at an auction Saturday to bid on units at
downtown Fort Myers twin high-rise condo Oasis but missed his moment as
prices fell before staging a modest comeback.
“The
guy sitting next to me got the low,” which went for $147,500 before
prices returned to the low $150,000s for the last 12, he said.
Jorge
Perez, CEO of developer The Related Group of Florida, abruptly canceled
the sale of 85 units as bidding neared an end on the first 40.
The
prices bid were apparently far less than Related officials had expected,
said real estate brokers who attended the auction at Harborside Event
Center in Fort Myers.
Originally,
Related had said 125 units would be auctioned: 40 absolute (highest bid
takes it) and the rest with reserves, or minimum prices the bidders would
have to meet.
But Perez pulled the plug after the first 40.
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For
Related the auction was a “disaster,” said Steve Luta,
a Fort Myers-based real estate broker who attended the
auction.
As
prices plunged, he said, “I saw stability at the end but
I never saw any type of bounce.”
The
prices were substantially less than Related had been
willing to accept even the day before, said Nils Richter
of Market America Realty & Investment Group, who
successfully bid on units for three out-of-town customers.
One
of his clients paid $30,000 less at auction than what the
price was the day before, Richter said. “I think the
developer didn’t hit his price.”
The
first condo on the block, a penthouse unit, went for
$260,000 but the last 23 sold for less than $160,000. All
were three-bedroom condos in the Oasis 1 tower. |
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Marc
Cusumano and Anne Ferguson sign up for their bidding number with the
help of Cinthya Sanchez, right, during The Related Group’s auction
of 40 units at the Oasis Condominium on Saturday at Harborside Event
Center in downtown Fort Myers.
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Roger
Vergln, 73, of Seattle, said he was delighted at the low price he paid.
“It’s
a beautiful project,” said Vergin, who with his wife, Rosemary, had the
winning bid of $200,000, plus the 10 percent auctioneer’s fee, for a unit
on the 22nd floor. They’ll live there part time, mainly in the winter
because the climate’s better for Roger Vergin to train for senior track
and field events.
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