Gollinger described the auction as "a very audacious and bold move" by the developer to address the current disequilibrium in the Center City condo marketplace.

"When you have a gap between what a seller wants and what a buyer wants to pay, you can fight it," he said, "or you can accept it and let the consumer determine the value of the property."

That is what Jill and Michael Williams, who flew in from St. Martin, did at yesterday's auction.

They bid on a one-bedroom, 1.5-bath unit originally listed for $780,000. The minimum bid for the 1,091-square-foot unit with a panoramic view of the Art Museum and the Schuylkill was $445,000. The Williamses put down the winning bid of $513,000, after losing out on three other units.

"We had some lines in the sand, and we had some units in mind," said Michael Williams, 50, who owns a gutter business. "But we set a price for each that we weren't going over."

Afterward, the couple, who also own a home in Galloway Township, N.J. that they are trying to sell, celebrated with two glasses of champagne in the closing room.

Seltzer, who is renting an apartment in the Art Museum area, was escorted to the room with her parents after her winning bid.

"I'm still shaking," said Seltzer, as she wrote out a check for $26,000 and handed a lending agent her $10,000 cashier's check - a requirement at yesterday's bidding. Combined, they made up the required 10 percent deposit for her $360,000 unit.

Many eyes were on the Murano auction yesterday.

"It's a great idea because the fact of the matter is, there's a ton of middle-market units, and they're not selling," said Tom Scannapieco, who is developing 1706 Rittenhouse, the most expensive condominium development in the city, where 31 units start at just under $4 million. "An auction will at least move the units, and the market will go on from there."

Scannapieco said he was particularly interested in yesterday's results because he owns a condominium tower at the Shore - the Bella in Atlantic City - that targets the same market as the Murano, and where sales have lagged this year.

The Murano auction could be the spark plug to the Philadelphia condo market, said real estate lawyer Gary Krimstock, who represents most of the luxury condominium buildings in Center City, including Society Hill Towers, the Philadelphian, Symphony House, and the Dorchester.

"I think this will certainly start interest by other developers in auction sales as a form of marketing in a difficult recession economy," said Krimstock, who specializes in condominium-association law. "It's a better alternative than the developer and the condo association running out of money and not being able to keep the electricity on."

Randall L. Scott, executive vice president of Thomas Properties Group - the Murano's owner - said that was the strategy behind yesterday's auction: to move a chunk of the 178 remaining unsold units fairly quickly.

"We are very pleased with the volume," he said. "Naturally, the product is worth more than what buyers think it's worth, but that's because of the disconnect in the market.

"Rather than carrying the units, paying the debt service, condo fees, and so forth, it became more efficient for us to pass those savings to buyers," he said. "We view the auction as a deciding event to allow us to understand where buyers value our product.

"The market spoke today."

Scott said the remaining 136 unsold units at the Murano would be priced based on what similar units went for yesterday. That pricing will start immediately, he said.

Gillen said the people who would likely be most upset are those that bought at the Murano recently.

"When that many units change hands at a significant discount, it sets the market," he said. "Recent buyers could see paper losses on their purchase of $100,000 or more. For many, that could be enough to put them upside-down on their purchase."