Auction.com's first offering in Germany fully booked

Auction.com, the US online real estate marketplace, announced on Thursday that its first offering in Germany is fully booked two weeks before the scheduled date of December 5.

The web-based platform will auction a total of 30 commercial properties with a combined value of more than EUR 75 mln.

'We are very excited that we were able to secure such a large number of commercial properties for our first auction, which is now fully booked,' said Ken Rivkin, co-CEO of Auction.com Commercial. 'We believe that real estate investors in Germany have a high demand for a transparent, secure, and fast auction platform, since many investors wish to move properties out of their books.'

He added: 'We are confident that we will be able to find sufficient buyers for the first auction and achieve market prices.'

The assets for sale on December 5 come from a wide range of sellers and fall primarily into the office, multi-family and retail sectors. The properties are located in almost all German regions, with a focus on Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse.

A second auction is planned for spring 2013. As in the US, Auction.com plans to host four to six online auctions per year for commercial properties on a long-term basis in Germany.