High-End Homebuilder Humbled

If you thought things were bad for buyers of higher-end houses by the likes of Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL ) or Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE: HOV ) , consider the predicament of luxury homebuilder Robert Lord Builders.

This week, his firm announced the auction of five high-end homes in snazzy St. Charles, Ill. (my old stomping grounds), by Inland Real Estate (NYSE: IRC ) . But it's not your normal inventory blowout.

The sale, according to this press release, includes a home owned by the man himself, Robert Lord. It's unclear from that PR whether or not Lord's home is the same one so modestly and tastefully dubbed "The Lord Castle."

Discussing the sale with Crain's Chicago Business, he assured the paper that he wasn't "pressured to sell the homes at auction." Of course not. Perish the thought. But, wait a second, what's that up at the top of the article? A somewhat contradictory assertion, it seems, reading, "There are no homes selling." This is simply "out of the box marketing," according to the homebuilder who's auctioning his own place.

"Just one more desperate homebuilder trying to unload inventory, with an ironic twist" is what it looks like to me.

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