FISHHAWK RANCH - My, how things have changed in FishHawk Ranch.

Time was, home shoppers camped out for days, hoping for the chance to buy a lot in the idyllic east Hillsborough County development. Now, managers of the FishHawk development are trying to unload 15 unsold properties - at auction.

Fifteen town houses near the development's village square will go on the auction block June 14.

Five of the properties originally came with a listing price of $390,000 to $469,000. Now the opening offer from the auctioneer for some sites will be $110,000 for some, roughly a 70 percent discount.

The connected homes are much bigger than typical town homes and range from 2,158 to 2,716 square feet, with two-car garages, kitchens with granite countertops, front porches and second-story terraces, walk-in closets and hardwood floors.

But alas, the auction symbolizes the general downturn in real estate, and the homes remain unsold.

The median home sale price in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, which includes Pasco County, was $131,400 in February, according to the most recent data from the Florida Association of Realtors. That's a 27 percent decrease from $178,900 during the same month a year ago.

Often, auctioneers set opening offers at prices low enough to drum up interest, so bidding may quickly rise above the $110,000 mark.

For anyone wanting to find out whether that happens - or bid on the homes themselves - here are the details:

You can preview open houses from noon to 3 p.m. May 16, 17, 30 and 31 and June 6, 7 and 13.

The one-time offering and open-outcry auction will be at the InterContinental Tampa hotel, 4860 W. Kennedy Blvd. Registration begins at noon, with the auction at 1 p.m.

Sheldon Good & Co. is the auction company.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919.