Report: Distressed sales still falling in April

Source: The Business Journal

Distressed home sales were still fading in April, making way for a more stable market 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 38 percent of all home sales in Fresno County in April. That compares to 41 percent in March and 62 percent in April 2012. In Tulare County, distressed sales fell to 34 percent in the month from 38 percent the prior month and 60 percent last year. Kings County saw its distressed sales plummet to 40 percent compared to 54 percent in March. April 2012 percentages weren't available. Distressed sales actually rose in Madera County, but not my much, going from 46 percent in March to 47 percent in April. Both are a significant improvement from 67 percent last year. The statewide average was even lower than the San Joaquin Valley, with 24 percent of home sales considered distressed. That's down from 28 percent in March and 46 percent a year ago. Of California's home sales, the share of short sales was 14.8 percent in April, down from 17.3 percent the prior month and 21.1 percent last year. The share of real estate-owned sales, including bank-owned homes, dropped into single digits for the first time since late 2007, going from 10.2 percent in March and 24.3 percent last year to 9.2 percent in April. Equity sales, or non-distressed property sales, climbed to 75.6 percent in the month compared to 72.1 percent in March and 54.2 percent in April 2012. The available supply of homes remained tight. In April the unsold inventory index for real estate-owned homes, or number of months to deplete the supply of homes at the current sales rate, dipped from 1.8 months in March to 1.7 months in April. The index for short sales stayed the same at 2.7 months, while equity sales dropped from three months to 2.9 months.

URL to original article: http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/real-estate/6203-report-distressed-sales-still-falling-in-april

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