(This story is part of a Reuters package about the outlook for the U.S. housing market. To see the package, double-click on [ID:nN12102754])

By James B. Kelleher

CHICAGO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The seven-bedroom, three-bath house in this city's West Garfield Park neighborhood had once been someone's American Dream.

But at a recent auction of about 100 foreclosed houses and condos, it was just Property No. 20 -- and drawing no bids from a roomful of buyers despite its bargain-basement price.

"Any interest in this home at $7,000?" fast-talking auctioneer Renee Jones asked the crowd. "If not, we'll move on."

Saddled with swollen portfolios of foreclosed and unsold properties in the housing crisis, U.S. lenders and builders are turning to professional auctioneers to help them unload the unwanted real estate in a hurry.

It is an open question whether the auctions indicate that the U.S. real-estate market is recuperating or is still in intensive care.

But the rapid-fire, under-the-hammer sales -- usually resorted to only after every other effort to market a property has failed -- are on the rise across the United States, providing a colorful burst of activity in a corner of the weak economy that needs all the life it can get.

"Over the last two years, we've progressively seen more and more of these," said Chris Longly, the deputy executive director of the National Auctioneers Association trade group. "It's a sign of the times."