Report: Distressed down statewide, not in Valley

Source: The Business Journal

Statewide shares of distressed home sales dropped again in May, although that wasn't the case throughout most of 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, stood at 38 percent of all home sales in Fresno County. That's flat compared to April but still better than 57 percent in May 2012. In Tulare County, distressed sales actually inched up to 37 percent in the month from 34 percent the prior month but stayed well below a 56-percent share last year. Madera County saw its distressed sales rise to 52 percent in May compared to 47 percent the month before. That's still well below 79 percent in May 2012. Kings County was one of a few in the San Joaquin Valley whose distressed sales declined in the month, going from 40 percent in April to 38 percent in May. However, May 2012 percentages weren't available. The statewide average was even lower than the San Joaquin Valley, with 21.8 percent of home sales considered distressed. That's down from 24.4 percent in April and 44.2 percent a year ago. Of California's home sales, the share of short sales was 14 percent, down from 14.8 percent the prior month and 21 percent last year. The share of real estate-owned sales, including bank-owned homes, fell into single digits for the second straight month, dropping from 9.2 percent in April and 22.8 percent in May 2012 to 7.3 percent. Equity sales, or non-distressed property sales, climbed to 78.2 percent compared to 75.6 percent in April and 55.8 percent in May 2012. The available supply of homes remained tight but was relatively unchanged from 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, stayed flat at 1.7 months. The index for short sales dropped from 2.7 months in April to 2.3 months in May while the index for equity sales dropped from 2.9 months to 2.8 months.

URL to the original article: http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/real-estate/6637-report-distressed-down-statewide-not-in-valley

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