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Mon May 21, 2012
New data released by RealtyTrac Thursday shows that foreclosure and REO homes accounted for 24 percent of all residential sales during the second quarter.
A total of 248,534 properties in default, scheduled for auction, or repossessed by the bank sold to third parties during the April to June timeframe. RealtyTrac says on average, these homes went for a discount of 26 percent.
The second-quarter share of foreclosure sales is up nearly 5 percent from the previous quarter, but still down 20 percent compared to the second quarter of 2009.
“While foreclosure sales increased in the second quarter, non-foreclosure sales increased even more, spurred on by the homebuyer tax credit that expired during the quarter,” said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s CEO.
Acording to Saccacio, “That had the net effect of lowering foreclosure sales as a percentage of total sales during the quarter, but that may be a temporary dip as the removal of the tax credit could drive more buyers back to discounted short sales and REOs.”
Based on RealtyTrac’s market data, a total of 151,290 REO properties were sold in the second quarter, accounting for nearly 15 percent of all home sales. REOs sold for an average discount of nearly 35 percent, the tracking firm reports.
Pre-foreclosure property sales, which are often short sales, totaled 97,244 during the three-month period. They made up 9 percent of all sales transactions and had an average discount of nearly 13 percent.
Not surprisingly, Nevada (56 percent), Arizona (47 percent), and California (43 percent) posted the highest percentage of foreclosure sales in Q2. Nevada’s pre-foreclosure sales jumped 29 percent compared to the previous quarter.
Other states where foreclosure sales accounted for at least one-quarter of all sales were Rhode Island (37 percent), Massachusetts (35 percent), Florida (34 percent), Michigan (33 percent), Georgia (27 percent), Idaho (27 percent), and Oregon (25 percent).
Ohio claimed the biggest discount for foreclosure properties, at nearly 43 percent. There, short sales had an average price cut of nearly 24 percent. The discount for Ohio REOs was double that at 48 percent.
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