According to a recent survey reported by Housingwire, short sale purchases outnumbered REO (Real Estate Owned) for the month of January.
Excerpt:
Short sales accounted for 15.9% of home purchases in January, surpassing the share of other distressed property activity, when real estate owned (REO) properties are measured separately, according to a monthly Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance (IMF) survey of more than 1,500 real estate agents, conducted by Campbell Surveys.
The share purchases taken up by short sales surpassed the share of move-in-ready REO purchases (13.8%) and damaged REO (13.4%).
These figures show a reversal from a recent trend of fairly even distressed sales across these categories. As recently as November 2009, according to the Campbell/IMF survey, short sales accounted for 12.4% of purchases, while move-in-ready REO took 12.6% and damaged REO took 12.3%.
The January survey also showed first-time homebuyers most often purchased short sales.
It will be interesting to see if this trend continues. If it begins to climb dramatically, perhaps the banks will have finally hit upon the formula to move the inventory more rapidly through the system, while the tax credit is in place.
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