REOs and Shorts Accounted for 39% of Q1 Existing-Home Sales

REOs and Shorts Accounted for 39% of Q1 Existing-Home Sales

Data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Tuesday show that distressed properties – including bank-owned homes and pre-foreclosure short sales – made up 39 percent of the first quarter’s existing-home sales. That’s up from 36 percent a year earlier.

Overall, sales of previously owned homes rose to an annual rate of 5.14 million units during the first three months of this year, the trade group reported. That pace is 8.3 percent higher than during the previous quarter and essentially flat – down just 0.8 percent – compared to the same period last year.

NAR says existing-home sales continued to recover in Q1 with quarter-over-quarter gains recorded in 49 states and the District of Columbia. Vermont was the only state to post a decline. There, existing-home sales dropped 7.1 percent.

With distressed homes grabbing such a large share of the market, the median home price in most areas continues to slide. NAR says distressed properties typically sold at a discount of about 20% during the first quarter. According to the trade group’s study, the national median existing single-family home price was $158,700 in the first quarter, down 4.6 percent from $166,400 in the first quarter of 2010.

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says lower priced homes have seen the best sales performance. “The biggest sales increase has been in the lower price ranges, which are popular with investors and cash buyers,” he said. “The preponderance of sales activity at the lower end is bringing down the median price, so what we’re seeing is the result of a change in the composition of home sales.”

Yun also noted, “When buyers principally purchase distressed properties in a given market, the recorded prices will be very low, which is what we’re seeing now in much of the country.”

According to NAR’s latest findings 118 of the 153 metropolitan statistical areas included in the study showed price declines in the first quarter when comparing figures from a year earlier.

Although sales nationally are slightly below a year ago, the volume of homes sold for $100,000 or less in the first quarter was 8.9 percent higher than the first quarter of 2010, creating a downward skew on the overall median price, NAR explained in its report.

The share of all-cash home purchases rose to 33 percent in the first quarter from 27 percent in the first quarter of 2010.

NAR says investors accounted for 21 percent of first quarter transactions, while first-time buyers purchased 32 percent of homes, and repeat buyers claimed a 47 percent market share.

Foreclosure rate slows as repossession timeline lengthens

Big banks are taking longer to push borrowers into foreclosure and through each stage of the process amid increased scrutiny.

By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times

May 12, 2011

Increased scrutiny of how lenders foreclose on Americans has dragged the repossession process out to unprecedented lengths, driving down the pace at which banks are taking back homes.

Big banks are taking longer not only to push borrowers into foreclosure, but also to move homeowners through each stage of the process than in previous years, according to a report by Irvine-based RealtyTrac.

The extended timelines have meant a reprieve for troubled borrowers. But economists said the delays could hold back a national housing rebound if foreclosures remain a significant part of the market for years to come.

In April, U.S. foreclosure activity fell for the seventh month in a row on a year-over-year basis to the lowest point in more than three years, RealtyTrac said. The sharp April drop was the result of the foreclosure-processing slowdown and not an indication of a housing rebound lifting people out of default, experts said.

"The banks have had to slow down and get more lawyers involved because of all of the fuss over the robo-signing scandal," said Christopher Thornberg, principal of Beacon Economics, referring to the revelations last year that banks foreclosed on properties using faulty paperwork.

Foreclosure filings— notices of default, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — dropped 9% in April from March and plunged 34% from April 2010 as 219,258 U.S. properties received new filings in April. The number of bank repossessions fell 5% from the prior month and 25% from April 2010, with lenders taking back 69,532 U.S. properties. In all, 239,795 foreclosure filings were made, with some properties receiving multiple filings.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-foreclosures-20110512,0,5524709.story

Denver-area million-dollar home sales soar in April

Denver Business Journal

Date: Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 12:57pm MDT

The market for million-dollar homes in the metro Denver area continues to improve, judging by April sales figures from Metrolist Inc. released Tuesday.

Fifty-five percent more million-dollar-plus homes — and 100 percent more condominiums in that price category — sold in April than in March, according to Gary Bauer, an independent Littleton-based real estate broker and Metrolist analyst.

There were 57 homes, six of which were condominiums, sold or closed on in April, which was down seven percent from the same month in 2010. The lowest-priced home in that category was $1 million and the highest was $3.2 million. The total sales volume for those 57 properties was $84.2 million.

Read more: Denver-area million-dollar home sales soar in April | Denver Business Journal