A real estate auction is an innovative and effective method of selling real estate. It is an intense, accelerated real estate marketing process that involves the public sale of any property — most certainly including those that are nondistressed — through open cry, competitive bidding. [source NAR]

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, the fastest growing auction areas appear to be land / agricultural, residential, and commercial real estate sectors, respectively. The National Association has a ton of resources about Auctions, for REALTORS® seeking to learn more, network with others in this field and understand the intricacies of working with auctioned properties – More Auction Information and Resources at Realtor.org