By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
It seems hard to imagine, but CoreLogic said that once-upon-a time, before the housing crisis, the sale of distressed homes made up only a miniscule 2 percent of the home sale market. Still, much progress has been made and the company said that sales of bank-owned real estate (REO) and short sales made up 11.4 percent of all sales during the month.
Even with distressed sales running at more than five times what might be considered “normal” the June figures represent substantial improvement. When those sales were at their peak, in January 2009, they made up nearly one-third (32.5 percent) of the market with REO alone accounting for 28 percent. Nineteen straight months of year-over-year declines in the sales have contributed to the rise in home prices as distressed sales traditionally sell at a discount from the market price.
