We’ve now got MRIS’s April numbers for foreclosures and short sales. Short sales are slightly up, but foreclosures are waaaay down.
Short sales: 12.2% of the market, up about 3% from last April
Foreclosure sales: 11.0% of the market, down 47% from last April
Total distressed sales: 23.2% of the market, down 29% from last April
Foreclosure sales: 11.0% of the market, down 47% from last April
Total distressed sales: 23.2% of the market, down 29% from last April
Granted, having a market where almost a
quarter of the sales are distressed isn’t a Good Thing, but there’s a
sense to it. People bought near the top of the bubble and have to sell
(for whatever reason — job, life change, etc.). So they either take the
hit or work out a short sale with their lenders.
That means that short sales are going to
continue to be a noticeable part of the market for as long as lots of
folks own homes bought between, say, 2004 and 2007. If they have to
sell, they’ll have to sell at a lower price, ’cause it’s gonna be a
while before prices are back up to those unnatural highs.
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Comments from Vicky Chrisner: This
is great news and evidence of the continuing market recovery. From a
personal standpoint, within my service areas I am seeing 20% or less of
the market is distress sales (foreclosures+short sales). In 2008, I
mostly worked REOs (foreclosures); in 2009 it was a mix of REOs and
short sales; in 2011 my business was about 1/3 traditional resales, 1/3
distress sales and 1/3 new construction. So far, in 2012, I have worked
mostly with traditional resales and new construction and am pleased to
report that I am even doing a lot of land sales again…. I estimate the
percentage of distress sales is about 15-20% of my business so far;
which seems very much in line with the submarkets where I work.
-Footnote: MRIS is the Metropolitan
Regional Information System~ It is the multiple listing service for the
Washington DC Metro area which includes Northern Virginia, Washington DC
and most of Maryland.
