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The median price of distressed residential properties, which are those that are either in the foreclosure process or owned by a bank, jumped up by 18 percent year-over-year in October, according to RealtyTrac's October 2014 Residential and Foreclosure Sales Report released on today. The price of non-distressed homes increased at the slower rate of 11 percent during the same period. The median price of a distressed home for October, nearly $129,000, was 36 percent lower than the median price of $200,000 for non-distressed homes during the same month.
Short sales, which are sales for an amount less than the home's owner currently owes on the mortgage, and distressed sales combined to account for 13.8 percent of all U.S. residential property sales in October. This was a slight increase from 13.7 percent in September but a decline from 14.7 percent in October 2013. October's share of short and distressed sales is up from the third quarter's reported share of 12.7 percent, which was the lowest level for any quarter since the first quarter of 2011.
The U.S. economy continued to outperform in the third quarter as consumer and government spending provided a boost to gross domestic product. According to a second estimate from the Commerce Department, GDP grew at an annualized rate of 3.9 percent in July, August, and September, down slightly from the second quarter's growth rate of 4.6 percent and up from the first quarter's 2.1 percent downturn. A group of economists surveyed by Econoday had forecast a growth rate of 3.3 percent, a slight cut from the government's initial estimate of 3.5 percent.
