Distressed sales still on the decline

Sales of distressed homes are continuing to drop.

Distressed sales – meaning properties owned by bank or some other financial institution or those sold below market value – were down 2.8 percent in May compared with May 2014, according to data released Thursday by CoreLogic in Irvine.

Month-over-month, distressed sales were down 1.7 percent.

Broken down by category, real estate-owned sales made up 6.4 percent of the total distressed sales in May, while short sales made up 5.4 percent.

That’s the lowest the REO category has been since October 2007, when it was six percent. The move away from REO sales is a sign home prices are improving, because bank-owned properties typically sell for less than short sales.

Riverside-San Bernardino County recorded 12.3 percent distressed sales in May, down from the region’s peak of 76.3 percent in February 2009. Based on a drop from peak levels, that was the largest drop of any major metropolitan region in the United States in May, according to CoreLogic.

At its peak in January 2009, distressed sales accounted for 32.4 percent of the housing market, stated CoreLogic, which provides real estate and other data to clients all over the world.