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Distressed, Cash Sales Near Pre-crisis Numbers

Distressed sales have fallen yet again, reaching their lowest numbers since September 2007, according to a CoreLogic [1] report released this morning.

As a share of total home sales, distressed sales made up just 7.5 percent in November 2016—the lowest share in nearly a decade and almost 25 percent lower than their peak in January 2009.

Before the crisis, the average share of distressed sales was around 2 percent. According to CoreLogic Principal Economist Molly Boesel, “If the current year-over-year decrease in the distressed sales share continues, it will reach that ‘normal’ 2-percent mark by the end of 2017.”

Forty-two states saw lower distressed sales in November 2016 than one year prior. Only North Dakota and the District of Columbia are within one percentage point of their pre-crisis levels.

The largest shares of distressed sales were seen in Maryland (18.4 percent), Connecticut (18.2 percent), New Jersey (15.8 percent), Illinois (14.3 percent), and Michigan (14 percent.) Overall, REO sales made up 4.9 percent of all distressed sales, while short sales made up 2.6.

In total, cash sales made up 32.4 percent of all sales in November 2016—down 4.5 percentage points since November 2015 and 14.2 percent since their peak in January 2011. REOs accounted for the largest cash sales share (60.2 percent), followed by resales (32.3 percent), short sales (31.9 percent), and new homes (15.5 percent).

The largest number of cash sales occurred in New York (47.4 percent), Alabama (47.3 percent), Michigan (44.1 percent), Florida (42.4 percent), and Indiana (41 percent). Cash sales are quickly approaching their pre-crisis numbers.

“Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25 percent,” Boesel reported. “If the cash sales share continues to fall at the same rate it did in November 2016, the share should hit 25 percent by mid-2017.”

To read CoreLogics full Cash and Distressed Sales Update, click here [2].