Foreclosures Made Up One-Third of Home Sales in First Quarter
According to Foreclosure Deals, an online foreclosed property for sale listing service, approximately 31 percent of home sales in the first three months of 2010 were foreclosure properties.
Florida foreclosures were a little higher – 33 percent of home sales in the first quarter were foreclosures.
A total of 232,950 foreclosure properties were sold during the first three months of the year, down 33 percent from the total number of foreclosed homes sold during the same period one year ago. Analysts at Foreclosure Deals believe that the new figures reflect the shrinking supply of foreclosure homes for sale and an increase in the number of investors looking for good deals.
Investors have been attracted not only because of the large number of available foreclosure properties, but also by falling prices on those foreclosures. Foreclosure Deals reports that the price of a foreclosure was on average 27 percent lower than the price of a traditional sale home.
The website reported that 19 percent of all residential sales during the first three months of 2010 were bank-owned and REO properties, with an average discount of 34 percent below market value. Homes in default – or pre-foreclosure homes – accounted for 12 percent of sales. Nationally, the average discount on a foreclosure home has increased from 21 percent to 27 percent in the last four years.
If you are having trouble making payments on your home loan, contact a Florida Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Attorney. An attorney can give you sound guidance on your decision and explain to you the legal consequences in the event of a default.
Greg Gilbert
Keith Maynard
