The sale of real estate owned properties generated greater returns than short sales in December, according to
REO liquidation recovered a larger portion of a property's unpaid balance, the Jacksonville, Fla.-based data firm said in its monthly mortgage report.
REO properties sold for 71% of a defaulted loan's balance, while short sales recovered 65%, according to Black Knight.
The results illustrate the reversal of a trend "that held true throughout the housing market's crisis years," said Trey Barnes, the company's senior vices president for loan data products, in a press release Tuesday.
Additionally, Black Knight said that the U.S. loan delinquency rate fell by 7.21% in December from a month earlier, to 5.64%. Mississippi, Rhode Island and Louisiana had the highest percentage of seriously delinquent loans, defined as more than 90 days past due.
