Distressed Sales Continue to Decline

There is nothing distressing about the latest data regarding distressed home sales. According to statistics released by CoreLogic, distressed sales accounted for 9.9 percent of total U.S. home sales in March, down 2.7 percent year-over-year drop and a 1.7 percent dip from February.

In breaking down the category, real estate-owned (REO) sales accounted for 6.8 percent of the total home sales, the lowest level for the month of March in nine years, while short sales accounted for 3.2 percent of March’s total home sales. All but eight states recorded lower year-over-year distressed sales shares, with Maryland (19.8 percent), Connecticut (18.9 percent), Michigan (18.1 percent), Florida (17 percent) and Illinois (16.7 percent) registering the highest percentages.

At the other end of the spectrum, North Dakota had the smallest distressed sales share among the states, with 2.4 percent. Baltimore registered the highest level of metro market distressed sales at 19.8 percent.