Tag Archives: REO

Distressed sales have been steadily falling since hitting their peak in 2009. Now that the backlog of foreclosures and REO properties has been clearing for years, how is this affecting business?

The combined share of REO property sales and short sales is less than a third of what it was at its peak nearly seven years ago.

The GSEs have made helping families avoid foreclosure a top priority since the housing crisis hit the nation seven years ago.

When distressed properties account for a large share of all residential home sales, it tends to pull down the prices of non-distressed homes, since foreclosed and REO properties typically sell at a discount to non-distressed homes. Data released by CoreLogic shows that as of late, however, the still-high distressed sales share is not causing non-distressed prices to fall.

The share of all-cash sales continues to decline, and the share of homes purchased by institutional investors—who account for the largest percentage of all-cash sales—has dropped right along with it.

The FHFA said that beginning December 1, 2015, local community organizations will be able to review and purchase foreclosed properties owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the newly added 18 metro areas before they hit the public market.

The distressed sales share, which includes sales of REO properties and short sales, was reported to be 9.3 percent for August 2015, down 2.3 percentage points from August 2014. August’s distressed sales share of 9.3 percent is the lowest since September 2007 and is less than a third off from its peak in January 2009, when it made up nearly a third of total residential home sales (32.4 percent).

LRES, a company that specializes in national REO and appraisal management while offering property valuations, asset management, HOA and technology solutions for the mortgage industry, recently made two new hires.

The rebound of the mortgage and housing market is good news for all except those who work in the counter-cyclical segments, such as foreclosure and REO services. This print feature originally appeared in the October 2015 issue of DS News magazine.

With July’s decline, the cash sales share has fallen year-over-year every month since January 2013, a total of 31 consecutive months, according to CoreLogic. July 2015’s reported share of 30.8 percent was a dropoff from the share of 34.2 percent reported in July 2014. As has historically been the case, REO sales made up 56 percent of cash sales in July 2015, and resales had the second highest share at 30.2 percent.