Bargain hunters who were hoping to bid on a 14-room duplex in one of the city’s most exclusive buildings will have to put down their auction paddles for now.

A Manhattan judge yesterday granted a temporary reprieve to the estranged wife of a department-store heir, who claims in a $72 million lawsuit that she was improperly foreclosed on by unscrupulous mortgage lenders.

Arlene Farkas’ $8.5 million pad at River House on East 52nd Street was headed for the auction block next week to pay off a $5 million debt on a reverse mortgage.