The number of foreclosed homes is increasing and it does not surprise analysts that it comprises the biggest chunk of sold homes this year. The figures for the second quarter of the year show exactly that – foreclosed homes still account for almost a quarter of the residential sales in that period.
RealtyTrac, a firm that looks at the foreclosure market and the real estate market in general, revealed the home sales statistics for the second quarter of 2010. The statistics show that 24% of the residential homes sold from April to June were foreclosed homes. In different stages of foreclosure – default, scheduled for auction or bank repossession – some 248,534 U.S. properties have been handed over to third parties through a sale. Though this number is 5% higher than that of the January to March number, it still represented a 20% decline from last year’s.
The good news does not end there.
RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio says, “While foreclosure sales increased in the second quarter, non-foreclosure sales increased even more, spurred on by the home buyer tax credit that expired during the quarter.”
For a home that’s under a foreclosure stage, the average sales price is 26% lower than the price for homes that did not undergo foreclosure. This marks a 27% decrease from first quarter’s average discount.
Another industry group, S&P/Case-Shiller, also conducted a study and news still proves to be good. In the past five consecutive months, home prices have been on a steady increase, with July showing but a slight bump up of 0.6% from June. The study was based on the group’s 20-city home price index.
But a state-to-state look may show that there are some states that are suffering more than others. Nevada, which showed the highest foreclosure sales percentage of any state, ended the second quarter with 56% of residential sales connected to foreclosure. Arizona sales shows that 47% of the homes sold in the second quarter are foreclosure sales. Oregon, Idaho, Georgia, Michigan, Florida, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island all showed at least one-quarter of their second quarter sales are foreclosure sales.