Santa Rosa homes fly off auction block

<p>A national housing crisis was hardly evident in Rohnert Park on Sunday as 17 new homes moved off an auction block in just 52 minutes.</p><p>About 70 bidders who gathered in the Doubletree Hotel ballroom quickly claimed the properties in what was the first bulk auction of new homes in Sonoma County.</p><p>Sunday’s sales netted $4.5 million for Standard Pacific Homes, which had been struggling with sluggish sales in its Avondale subdivision in southeast Santa Rosa.</p><p>Minimum bids on the development’s remaining three-bedroom, two-bath homes just south of the fairgrounds started at about $200,000 — half off original asking prices.</p><p>The majority of homes sold for about $240,000 to $260,000.</p><p>The highest winning bid was $285,000 for a home original listed at $463,900.</p><p>Bidders were a mix of hopeful homeowners and experienced investors.</p><p>Before the bidding started, the auctioneer asked audience members if they had ever been to an auction before. Only a third raised their hands.</p><p>Gregorio Edmisten of Petaluma sat nervously with his Realtor as he waited for the event to begin. He hoped to buy a new home for his wife.</p><p>“It’s very hard for newlyweds to get their own homes in the lower price range,” he said.</p><p>But his hand never made it in the air. The bids climbed so rapidly, he was overwhelmed. He said he didn’t expect prices to jump $20,000 to $25,000 in a blink of an eye.</p><p>So Edmisten’s three-month housing search continues. “It was intimidating, and they went so fast,” he said.</p><p>Lynn Damron and her husband, Roger, said they nabbed a great deal.</p><p>The longtime Santa Rosa residents initially intended to buy a rental home but realized the purchase would be a big help to their newly married son and his wife, who have been scrimping to afford a house.</p><p>The Damrons said they thought the bidding stayed low and was even more of an incentive to make the purchase.</p><p>Last year, similar new-development auctions featured townhomes in Rohnert Park and and condominiums in Santa Rosa. But this was the area’s first bulk sale of new houses, and the winning bids were $30,000 to $70,000 less than those paid for the townhomes and condos.</p><p>Ken Stevens, CEO and founder of Accelerated Marketing Partners, Sunday’s auction agent, said Standard Pacific moved six months of inventory.</p><p>“From the buyers standpoint, I think they got tremendous buys,” Stevens said. “It gives them an opportunity to establish the market price themselves. It’s the most fair evaluation of what the housing market is worth right now.”</p>