Report: Distressed home sales come down in March

Source: The Business Journal

Distressed home sales in California fell to their lowest level in five years, a trend reflected just as strongly in the San Joaquin Valley. According to the California Association of Realtors, distressed sales, which include short sales, sales of bank-owned properties and other foreclosure sales, were down to 41 percent of all home sales in Fresno County in March. That compares to 44 percent in February and 60 percent in March 2012. In Madera County, distressed sales fell to 46 percent in the month from 53 percent the prior month and 68 percent last year. Tulare County saw its distressed sales plummet to 38 percent in March compared to 48 percent in February and 62 percent a year ago. Kings County figures weren't as promising, with distressed sales shooting up to 54 percent in March over 41 percent the prior month. March 2012 percentages weren't available. The statewide average was even lower than the San Joaquin Valley with 28 percent of home sales considered distressed. That's down from 33 percent in February and 49 percent a year ago. Of California's home sales, the share of short sales was 17.3 percent in March, down from 19.8 percent the prior month and 22.6 percent a year ago. The share of real estate-owned sales, including bank-owned homes, dropped to 10.2 percent compared to 12.9 percent and 25.9 percent, respectively. Equity sales, or non-distressed property sales, shot up to 72.1 percent from 66.8 percent in February and 51.2 percent in March 2012. The available supply of real estate-owned homes remained tight in February, or number of months to deplete the supply of homes at the current sales rate, slipping from two months in February to 1.8 months in March. The index for short sales 2.7 months in March compared to 3.2 months in February while equity sales dropped from 3.8 months to three months.

URL to original article: http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/real-estate/5763-report-distressed-home-sales-come-down-in-march

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