Distressed sales – including real estate owned (REO) sales, sales of homes actively in foreclosure and short sales – accounted for 12.9% of all U.S. single-family home and condo sales in the third quarter, which is down from 15.0% in the second quarter and down from 15.9% in the third quarter of 2015, according to data recently released by ATTOM Data Solutions, parent company of RealtyTrac.
It was the lowest share of distressed sales since the third quarter of 2007, when they accounted for 12.3% of all home sales.
The peak in share of distressed sales came in the first quarter of 2009, when they reached 43.9% of all U.S. single-family home and condo sales.
The report also shows that all-cash purchases accounted for 25.9% of all single-family home and condo sales in the third quarter – down from 27.4% in the previous quarter and down from 29.2% in the third quarter of 2015.
It was the lowest level since the third quarter of 2007, when all-cash purchases accounted for 24.3% of all home sales.
The peak in share of all-cash purchases came in the first quarter of 2011, when they reached 44.8% of all U.S. single-family home and condo sales, according to the report.
“Distressed inventory for sale is virtually nonexistent in many of the nation’s hottest housing markets, and when a distressed property is listed for sale in those markets, it often sells quickly and at little or no discount,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions, in a statement. “The scarcity of discounted distressed inventory is chasing away cash buyers and other bargain hunters, but it’s certainly good news for home sellers, who nationwide realized the biggest home price gains since purchase in nine years.
“We are seeing the average seller home price gain since purchase start to wane in some of the highest-priced markets, where appreciation is beginning to cool, indicating those markets are past their prime as sellers’ markets,” Blomquist adds. “Meanwhile, there are still a number of buyers’ markets across the country where a high level of lingering distress and relatively weak demand from owner-occupant buyers provides investors with plenty of bargain-buying opportunities.”
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