There seems to be a new trend in San Diego and it has nothing to do with the wonderful weather.  On weekdays one can find a group of people with cashier’s checks waiting for the public auction of foreclosed homes on the steps of the San Diego Court house.  A multitude of homes can be up for auction on any given day and unless the existing owner is able to provided legal papers at the last moment, they are all up for grabs.  The number of auction per week and the amount of houses on the block both seem to be increasing.

Susan Esquer, who works for a law firm that specializes in filing the legal papers needed to stop the sales, stated that before the housing crash she would be present once or twice a month, whereas recently she is finding herself at the auctions up to four times a week.

Frank Grangetto, bidding at a recent auction has also noticed the uptick, “The last time I was here was about a year ago.  There were four people bidding on about 15 properties, today, there are probably 35 to 40 people.”  That particular day there were 43 properties up for auction.

Most bidders are professionals that have a good sense of the market and the homes they are interested in, allowing them to bid just the right amount to purchase.  It is not a kind place to the average home buyer due to the high level of risk involved due to the likely hood that something can go wrong and one is using cash to buy a house.