Report: Short Sales Surpass Foreclosure Sales
More and more lenders are apparently looking to avoid the foreclosure process, opting instead to sell the distressed assets for less than their original loan amounts. That’s the latest, at least, from Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS), which revealed short sales accounted for nearly one-quarter (23.9 percent) of home purchases in Jan. 2012, which is… [Continue Reading]
More and more lenders are apparently looking to avoid the foreclosure process, opting instead to sell the distressed assets for less than their original loan amounts.
That’s the latest, at least, from Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS), which revealed short sales accounted for nearly one-quarter (23.9 percent) of home purchases in Jan. 2012, which is more than the monthly foreclosure tally (19.7 percent). All told, based on these statistics, short sales and foreclosure sales accounted for more than 40 percent of all real estate purchases to start the New Year.
There are many reasons for the uptick, most notably the massive costs that lenders incur because of foreclosures, particularly at such a high volume. In fact, some lenders (Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase & Co.) are so eager to avoid the foreclosure process that they are offering distressed homeowners as much as $35,000 to accelerate their departures. In addition, streamlined short sale procedures have been introduced that compel loan servicers to respond to all short sale offers in 30 days or less.
So if a bank is willing to reduce the price on a desirable home, incentivize the homeowner who can no longer afford his or mortgage to relocate and get a “non-performing” asset of its books as soon as possible, it appears that everyone — all things considered — comes out a winner. Even neighborhoods, which have been scarred with the black marks of foreclosure and its deleterious effects, and in turn their collective property values, appear to benefit from short sales.
But you be the judge: Check out available short sale homes for sale in your neighborhood today at Foreclosure.com. Yes, we have short sales — along with many other distressed property listings — available on our site, many of which are 30 to 50 percent less than market value.
