Quarterly Foreclosures Down 33% From 2009

Foreclosure activity in the first quarter was down 33% when compared with a year ago but huge discounts remain with pre-foreclosure (14.77%), foreclosure (26.7%) and lender-owned properties (34.04%), according to RealtyTrac.

The RealtyTrac numbers — which are used by HUD as part of its monthly housing scorecard — show that savvy buyers are purchasing large numbers of distressed properties.

“First time homebuyers and investors continue to buy foreclosure properties in large numbers, and at substantial discounts,” says James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “As lenders have begun repossessing homes at record levels over the first half of 2010, it will be interesting to watch how they will manage the inventory levels of distressed properties on the market in order to prevent more dramatic price deterioration.”

Foreclosures Up 2,500% Since 2005

Foreclosures — once a rarity in the U.S. housing market — have become more common. RealtyTrac says a majority of transactions in a number of states involve distressed properties including Nevada (64 percent), California (51 percent) and Arizona (50 percent). Other states with at least one-third of all transactions involve foreclosure sales include Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Florida, Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Idaho and Oregon.

“More than 1.2 million U.S. properties in some stage of foreclosure sold to third parties in 2009,” says RealtyTrac, “an increase of 25 percent from 2008 and an increase of nearly 327 percent from 2007. Total foreclosure sales in 2009 were up more than 1,100 percent from 2006 and up more than 2,500 percent from 2005. Foreclosure sales accounted for 29 percent of all sales in 2009, up from 23 percent in 2008 and up from 6 percent in 2007.”

Foreclosure Discounts Getting Larger

If you buy a foreclosure the odds are good that you will pay far less than for a home which is not distressed. The typical foreclosure was priced 34 percent below the value of a comparable property where the owners had ggood financial standing. The largest disclosure was in New York state (52 percent). Other big discount states included Kentucky (45.88%), Ohio (44.56%) and Illinois (45.88%, same as Kentucky).

Tweet This Post

Technorati Tags: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, Arizona, California, chart, discount, Florida, foreclosure, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, new york, Oregon, RealtyTrac, Rhode Island