Foreclosures sell at 30% discount
Foreclosures have become a dominant feature of many real estate markets, finding willing buyers among young bargain hunters and savvy housing market veterans.
During 2009, more than 1.2 million property sales involved foreclosures. That grew 25% compared with the year before, and 2,500% from 2005.
"That number boggled my mind," said Rick Sharga, a spokesman for RealtyTrac. "A 2,500% increase over a four-year period surprised even us."
Foreclosure sales were highest, expectedly in the bubble states. In Nevada, for example, they represented nearly 64% of transactions. And that's actually an improvement over the 75% of all sales during the first three months of 2009.
Surprisingly, both Massachusetts and Rhode Island had higher incidences of foreclosure sales than did the bubble state of Florida, at 42% vs. 39%.
"Massachusetts and Rhode Island were two of the only Northeastern states that racked up unsustainable price increases during the boom," pointed out Sharga.
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