Flop Auction: Eleven plots get zero bids

Some CDA officials cited timing of auction, barely a month after the last one, as being the cause of the poor showing.

ISLAMABAD:

‘Unsuccessful’ would be an understatement to describe the first day of the Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) plots auction. Of the 11 residential and commercial plots put up for bidding on Tuesday, not a single plot got an offer.

Considering that the last plot auction, held in November, concluded with the sale of Rs2.8 billion worth of plots, Tuesday’s poor showing was a surprise for some.

However, some CDA officials cited the timing of the auction, barely a month after the last one, as being the cause of the poor showing, while also citing the last-minute inclusion of three properties in the auction list to the original eight.

The Authority had planned to auction 30 plots, including 11 commercial, 9 residential, three industrial, four auto workshops, an agro-farm, a wedding hall and a filling station over two days. However, some plots were later withdrawn.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2012.