Study: Every Three-in-10 Homes Sold in January Was Distressed

Distressed home sales, classified as short sales and real estate-owned sales, accounted for 29% of all sales in the U.S. in January, the highest level since April 2009, a report from First American CoreLogic found. The REO share of sales increased to 22% in January, up from 19% in December but down from a year ago when it was 27%. Short sales accounted for 8% of all sales in January, up from 7% in December and 5% a year ago. During the last 12 months, there were 974,000 distressed sales: 740,000 were REO sales and 234,000 were short sales. By markets, Riverside, Calif., had 62% of its home sales in January come from the distressed category, followed by Las Vegas at 59% and Sacramento at 58%. Sales of REO made up 48% of the home sales in Detroit, while the leader in share of sales in the short sales category is San Diego at 19%. First American CoreLogic also noted that the average nondistressed market sale price in January was $247,700 but the distressed average price was $161,600. The average REO price was $141,900, compared to $215,300 for short sales. The discount between market sales and distressed sales is currently about one-third and has been running at the low-to-mid 30s during the last 12 months.