I was looking through the charts and statistics and came across these 2. They offer an interesting view on what homes are selling, and how much of our housing market is really about the foreclosures.
From the chart below you can see that steadily for the past 6 months the REO (bank owned properties) are about 15% of the active listings. The Short is for short sale listings running at about 35% and Normal, is a regular buyer and seller no bank involved is still 50% of the homes on the market.
Compare the above chart with this one and you can see REO (bank owned property) sales dominate. Currently about 45%, down from 55% of all the sales are REO’s.
Normal transactions having 35% of the sales (back in Nov what was thought to be the end of the home buyer tax credit and people were looking to make the home purchase happen and not mess with the banks)
The Short Sales have increased from 15 to 23%.
What does all that tell me, a few things?
1. Bank owned homes sill offer the best value
2. Banks are starting to approve short sales. (it sure has taken a long time)
3. With more short sale approvals, fewer homes are going to foreclosure
4. And there is nothing like a home that has been loved and taken care of