Foreclosure sales account for 31 percent of Q1 sales

Sales of foreclosure properties accounted for 31 percent of all residential sales nationwide in the first quarter, according to a foreclosure sales report published by RealtyTrac®. The report also showed that the average sales price of properties that sold while in the foreclosure process was nearly 27 percent less than the average sales price of properties not in the foreclosure process.

A total of 144,503 bank-owned (REO) properties were sold to third parties in the first quarter, a decrease of 13 percent from the previous quarter and down 27 percent compared with the first quarter of 2009. REO sales accounted for 19 percent of all sales in the first quarter, up from nearly 16 percent in the previous quarter, but down from 21 percent of all sales in the first quarter of 2009. REOs sold for an average discount of 34 percent, up from an average discount of nearly 32 percent in both the previous quarter and the first quarter of 2009.

Foreclosure sales accounted for 51 percent of all sales in California in the first quarter, up slightly from 50 percent in the fourth quarter, but down from 70 percent of all sales in the first quarter of 2009, according to the report.

HUD reverses plan to allow use of $8000 tax credit for downpayment

On May 14th, HUD announced that first-time homebuyers would soon be able to access their $8,000 federal tax credit when closing on a home through a short-term bridge loan that will cover their down payment on FHA-backed loans.

HUD officials on Monday, May 18th reversed this earlier decision and details backing the 5/14 announcement were withdrawn from the HUD website.

Despite favorable reaction from the real estate industry to the bridge-loan proposal, not everyone was in favor of using the tax credit as collateral on a down-payment loan.

The loans also could have potentially created income-tax issues, according to the IRS officials who derailed HUD's plan.

This doesn't mean that HUD and lawmakers will not allow this in the future. Stay tuned - we'll keep you posted!

S.F. Real Estate Rebounding—A Channel 5 News Story

The lead story yesterday on the six o’clock news on Channel 5 (the local CBS affiliate station) was a report by Emmy Award-winning political editor Hank Plante on the rebound in real estate sales that has been noticed recently in San Francisco. The story cited the upsurge in sales that has occurred in the Excelsior district, the Sunnyside district, at the Infinity Towers and many other areas in the city. Plante explained that the driving factors are historically low interest rates, more rational asking prices, the availability of credit and the effects of pent-up demand. The Association which worked on the story with others provided statistical support for what had been observed in the field through Terradatum, the company which provides the Association with reports for publication in REALTOR® Advantage Online.

Click here to view the story.