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IRVINE, CA-Foreclosure and short sales account for 43% of US residential sales in 2012, according to a report from RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties. The firm reports that properties not in foreclosure that sold as short sales in 2012 accounted for an estimated 22% of all residential sales, bringing the total share of distressed sales to 43%, including both foreclosure-related sales and non-foreclosure short sales.
Also, the total number of US properties in some stage of foreclosure or REO decreased 6% in 2012 from 2011 and was down 11% from 2010, according to RealtyTrac. These foreclosure-related sales accounted for 21% of all US residential sales during the year, down from 23% of all sales in 2011 and down from 28% of all sales in 2010.
Still, the picture isn't all rosy, says Daren Blomquist, VP of RealtyTrac. “Although foreclosure-related sales represent a shrinking share of total sales, primarily because of fewer bank-owned purchases, distressed sales are still a disproportionately high portion of the overall housing market. And while distressed properties—whether bank-owned, pre-foreclosure or short sales not in foreclosure—are still selling at a significant discount compared to non-distressed properties, average distressed-property prices are increasing in many markets thanks to strong demand and limited inventory.”
As GlobeSt.com reported earlier this week, California cities dominate the list of best markets in which to buy short-sale properties, according to a recent report from RealtyTrac. Santa Barbara tops the list of cities in the report, which analyzed data from fourth-quarter 2012 in more than 900 metro areas nationwide. Other high-ranking cities, in descending order, are Visalia-Porterville, Fresno, Vallejo-Fairfield, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto and Riverside.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
