North Texas auction house Hudson & Marshall hosted property sales for more than 250 real estate-owned homes in Atlanta over the weekend, 95% of which received bids. Principal David Webb said that auctions are becoming a more viable way to purchase a home because of the amount and quality of the inventory hitting the market. “The downturn in the housing market has made buyers more educated and savvy about the homebuying process,” Webb said. “With the high levels of foreclosures flooding the market, consumers have realized that foreclosures don’t necessarily mean rundown property anymore. They can be purchased at a reduced price and in move-in ready condition.” Both owner-occupants and investors attended the Jan. 22-23 auctions. The properties with current bids, which Hudson & Marshall said are subject to seller acceptance, were priced between $15,000 and $218,000. Also up for bid were a substantial amount of “name your own price” properties, with a price range between $35,000 and $75,000, according to the firm. Lenders filed a record 3.8 million foreclosures in 2010, up 2% from 2009 and an increase of 23% from 2008, according to RealtyTrac. But this year could be even worse. Georgia ranked sixth among the 50 states last year in total number of foreclosure filings with 130,966 filings, up more than 23% from 2009. Hudson & Marshall will hold another round of auctions of 200 homes beginning Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and the Virginia cities of Richmond and Norfolk. Write to Christine Ricciardi. Follow her on Twitter @HWnewbieCR.

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