Foreclosure-Related Sales Price Up as Inventory Shrinks: RealtyTrac

Prices went up for foreclosure-related sales on a quarterly and yearly basis, with the annual increase marking the first rise in two years, according to ""RealtyTrac's Q2 foreclosure sales report"":http://www.realtytrac.com/content/foreclosure-market-report/q2-2012-us-foreclosure-sales-report-7363.

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The average price for foreclosure-related sales stood at $170,040, a 6 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 7 percent hike from the second quarter of 2011. The annual increase is the first since the second quarter of 2010 and the biggest yearly increase since the fourth quarter of 2006.

“The second quarter sales numbers provide solid statistical evidence of what we’ve been hearing anecdotally from real estate agents, buyers and investors over the past few months: there is a limited supply of available foreclosure inventory to choose from in many markets,” said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac Vice President. “Given this shortage of supply and the seasonally strong buyer demand in the second quarter, it’s no surprise that the average foreclosure-related sales price increased both on a quarterly and annual basis.""

Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of all home sales in the second quarter were either bank-owned properties or in some stage of foreclosure, compared to 22 percent in the previous quarter and 19 percent a year ago in the second quarter.

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However, the actual number of foreclosure-related sales decreased 12 percent to 224,429 from the previous quarter and fell 22 percent from a year ago. The annual decrease is the first after five quarters of increases.

Homes in foreclosure and REOs sold at an average discount of 32 percent below non-foreclosures, up from 30 percent in the previous quarter and second quarter of 2011.

Pre-foreclosure sales, which are generally short sales, are starting to catch up to REO sales, with bank-owned sales outnumbering short sales by 9,833, the smallest difference since the third quarter of 2007.

Third parties bought 107,298 homes in pre-foreclosure in Q2, a decrease of 10 percent from Q1 and a 9 percent decrease from a year ago.

Out of all sales in the second quarter, 11 percent were counted as pre-foreclosures.

Pre-foreclosures sold for a price that averaged 26 percent below non-foreclosure homes. In the previous quarter, pre-foreclosure discounts averaged 24 percent and a year ago, the discounts averaged 18 percent.

Pre-foreclosure homes sat on the market longer and took an average of 319 days to sell after starting the foreclosure process compared to 306 days in the previous quarter and 245 days a year ago.

Third parties bought 117,131 REOs in the second quarter, a 13 percent decrease from the previous quarter and a 31 percent plunge from the second quarter of 2011.

REO sales made up 12 percent of all sales in the second quarter and had an average sales price of $155,892. The price is a quarterly and yearly increase of 6 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

REOs sold at a 37 percent discount compared to non-foreclosures, unchanged from the previous quarter but down from 38 percent a year ago.