Property Auction Club arranged the auction at the Hilton hotel in Collingtree, Northampton, by contacting estate agents to bring forward homes they were finding it difficult to find buyers for or had been asked to sell quickly.

But despite most of the guide prices being about half the value of the homes in July 2007, bidders sat firmly on their paddles and refused to be tempted into bidding even at such discounted prices.

Shaynan Patel, assistant manager of Property Auction Club said: "It's not good. These prices are down by half from what they were last summer. To most people selling a house, auction is the last resort for them so what is the next step?

"They are already down by 50 per cent; do they then go to 75 per cent?

"This surprises me because the estate agents in the region thought these were low prices. How could they not sell at 50 per cent?"

The auction saw 34 lots. Five were from Buckinghamshire and one from Essex. Five of the lots sold overall.

Solicitor Alison Cook who was acting for several properties said the fact that home auctions were happening at all were as significant as the lack of sales.

She said: "This is estate agents trying to get rid of them quickly but also people sailing too close to the wind who are either facing repossession or just can't afford the mortgage."

The room had to wait until lot nine to find its first sale, a one-bedroom home in Swinford Hollow Little Billing which went for the guide price of £75,000.

Only two more Northamptonshire properties were sold during the auction proper – one at and one below their guide prices – with a further one bought afterwards. A £500,000 home in Essex sold at £490,000.

Although bids were put in for a handful of other properties they were almost always too low to sell and about half a dozen homes had no interest at all.

The lack of bidding was even evidenced by the auctioneer starting the bidding on a detached four double bedroom property in Morning Star Road in Daventry, guide price £195,000, at just £50,000. It drew two semi-serious bids.

Amanda Graham, from Northampton, at her fifth auction, said: "The prices are still too high for most people's pockets. Its either ridiculously low prices or nothing at the moment."