The buyers might have liked them a little cheaper. The developers might have liked a little more money. But in the end, nothing spectacular happened at the Solaire condo auction. And an hour and a half after it began, it was all over. About 150 folk showed up in the end – and although 42 condos were originally offered, only about 30 bidders were eventually successful.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that the low price paid and the way the property was sold “may cause sleepless nights for developers and Realtors.” I’m not sure that’s true. I think the developers managed to move some much needed inventory and some buyers got a decent price as a result. But there was no blood bath. Having said that, those buyers who paid significantly more two years ago are unlikely to be thrilled with the result. But whoever said real estate was an investment no-brainer?

Two bedrooms originally priced from $375,000 to $450,000 went for $289,000 to $365,000. One bedrooms originally priced from $296,000 to $255,000 sold for $204,000 to $229,000. (That’s $250 per sf on average at the auction on units that were retailing for $300-340 per sf.)

I asked colleague and downtown Realtor Darryl Hunt (“Downtown Darryl”) what he made of the auction. “This shows there is a demand for Downtown Orlando Condos at today’s market prices and people are optimistic about its future,” he said. Or, as Steve (OrlandoCondo411) put it: “The interest of living a metro-urban lifestyle is there but the pockets of those who desire to are about as deep as a mid-summer afternoon rain shower puddle in Florida.”

So what now? When those sales close and become ‘comps’ they will of course have some some impact on downtown prices over the next few months – and the main losers are likely to be other downtown condos like 55 West and The Vue, who will perhaps seem even more overpriced than they do today.

For more on Solaire at the Plaza, visit our Solaire Condos page.

Next up: Tradewinds Auction in MetroWest