On Tuesday afternoon of last week, more than 438 bidders rolled up their sleeves and got ready to bid in the first online auction of US land open to mainland buyers.
Within 55 seconds, 71 bids were placed that hit the reserve price of US$8,800 for the purchase of a 10,000 sq ft site in southwestern Florida. The winner was due to be selected by a lucky draw yesterday.
'I had expected them to start bidding at the bottom. But they placed their highest prices from their first bids,' said Zhuang Nuo, managing director of SouFun International, a unit of US-listed SouFun Holdings, the mainland's biggest property website. SouFun organised the online land auction.
'The response showed there are many cash-rich mainland investors and they love to speculate on property,' Zhuang said. 'Austerity measures at home restrict their buying on the mainland, so they look offshore.'
The site was owned by a US firm called United Solutions of America, which approached SouFun International about selling its properties in Lee county in southwestern Florida to mainlanders.
The US firm purchases distressed properties from banks or buys from sellers who lack the funds to develop their planned projects.
To arouse buyers' interest and attract public attention, Zhuang decided to sell the site through an online auction, which was open for bidding for two hours. Under the rules set for the auction, bidding could start from US$1 and the site was to be sold to the highest bid above the reserved price of US$8,800.
