Lisbon || There was a time when people flocked to them – keen to snap up a bargain – but these days banks are having an increasingly difficult job to try to sell-off properties seized for non-payment of mortgage debts.
According to a spokesman in charge of two auctions last weekend at SIL (the property fair in Lisbon), less than 100 people turned up, while of the 177 properties due to go under the hammer, only 24 managed it: 12 in Lisbon and the remainder in Porto.
The starting price for all properties began at €35,000 – with top bids in the region of 189,000 euros.
The auctions were lead by Caixa Geral de Depósitos, in association with auctioneers Euro Estates.
Said auctioneer Pedro Gilrão: “There have been auctions where we sell between 80-90% of properties.”
