Fl auction

TC Palm


Even though the housing bubble had burst months before construction began, Janos Gyory was optimistic the new homes his company was building would sell for nearly $300,000 each.

Most of them didn't.

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This Saturday the remaining 14 finished homes will be auctioned, with bidding starting at $190,000.

"We were always optimistic that it is a good product," said Gyory, president of NGG Point. "But we are still paying interest to the bank and need to move it somehow."

National Auction Co. auctioneer George Richards expects the homes to sell between $195,000 and $200,000, roughly two-thirds of the original asking price.

That price is in line with current market conditions, said Sheri Wetzel, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie County.

"That seems to be the really hot price right now," Wetzel said. "Generally, anything priced under $200,000 will move and it will move pretty quick."

The slowdowns of sales and median prices aren't the only reasons why the homes didn't sell.

Richards pointed to the on-going road construction along U.S. 1 near the intersection for dissuading potential buyers.

"With the construction, selling them conventionally didn't attract enough traffic to get them sold," Richards said.

Hoyt C. Murphy Inc. Realtors' Port St. Lucie, which marketed the homes, will assist Richards in the auction.

The homes range in size from 2,400 square feet to 2,700 square feet and were built by Port St. Lucie-based Town & Country Home Builders. The five models were designed by Gyory, who is also an architect who led the design team for a Four Seasons resort in Caracas, Venezuela.

Gyory's company purchased the nine-acre parcel for $230,000 in 2003 and construction began in early 2006, months after the start of the national downturn in the housing market.

"Everything was already designed and permitted," Gyory said. "We thought there was still people who might be interested."

Gyory is still optimistic about the new home market of St. Lucie County. He is in the early stages of developing a 44-unit subdivision called Orange Gardens at Edwards and McNeil roads in Fort Pierce.

"We believe the market will turn around by the time we are building there," Gyory said.

LAS PALMAS AUCTION

When: Saturday

Registration: Begins at 9 a.m.

Bidders must register with the auctioneer, and present photo identification and a cashiers check for $2,500 at registration.

Arrangements have been made with National City Bank for financing.

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