A Season of Real Estate Statistics

Posted: 27 Aug 2010 06:34 AM PDT

Some of the most valuable assets for agents assisting distressed homeowners are statistics … and industry players have released a ton of them lately. Following is a breakdown of some of the major, recent reports on the real estate industry:

CoreLogic’s August 2010 Short Sale Research Study:

• Short sales have more than tripled since 2008, and multiple indications point to short sales continuing as a significant factor in the industry.

• Investors involved in short sales are good! They provide the industry with necessary liquidity.

• 1.9% of short sales studied were part of an egregious flip.

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) existing home sales data though July 2010:

• Existing-home sales (single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops) dropped 27.2 percent.

• Seasonally adjusted annualized rate of existing-home sales dropped to 3.83 million (down from 5.26 million) – the weakest showing in 15 years.

• Single-family sales are at their lowest levels since May 1995.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Second Quarter 2010 National Delinquency Survey:

§ 13.97% of loans are in foreclosure or at least one payment past due (or more than 1 in 7 mortgages).

§ Foreclosure starts for prime fixed loans – previously the safest loan product (based on historic default rates) – increased to 0.71 percent, tying the survey’s record high.

§ Year over year, the non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased for: prime fixed loans, prime ARM loans, subprime fixed loans, and subprime ARM loans.