Home auctions are becoming more common in Nevada as the number of foreclosure filings increases to a rate three times the national average. The state had 5,116 filings in June, about one out of every 200 households, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac reported.

The auction process is comfortable for buyers because of its "nonconfrontational" format, McCormack said. Prospective bidders can view the properties and get purchasing terms at the company's Web site.

A recent auction held by Dallas-based Hudson & Marshall in which some 90 foreclosed homes were auctioned drew criticism from local real estate agents.

Eric Young of Liberty Realty said he tracked the auctioned properties through the Multiple Listing Service and only one property showed a change in status from "available" to "pending" in the first week after the Aug. 5 auction.

The MLS status for 16 of the 83 homes sold at the auction suggests that the high bidder at the auction may have met the reserve requirement of the banks, Young said.

Andrew Pugh of SellFastLV.com said the Marshall & Hudson auction may be more "hollow" than he thought.

"It looks like the banks are asking for higher bids from anybody on 16 of the properties that were supposedly auctioned off," he said. "I wonder if the winning bidders backed out or the banks are just fishing for more money?"

A classified advertisement in the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows a foreclosed three-bedroom, two-bath home available for $49,900 in central northwest Las Vegas. The cheapest home at Hudson & Marshall's auction was a 770-square-foot condominium on West Bonanza Road that was listed at $75,000.