Short Sales By The Numbers Revisited
In the past I’ve written about short sale numbers for homes in the Antelope Valley. The first quarter of 2008 is over, so I thought I would revisit short sales by the numbers.
Quickly let’s define the short sale or short pay as it is sometimes called. When a homeowner owes the lender more than the current market value of the home, the owner may try to negotiate with the lender and see if some of the loan can be forgiven. This will allow the property to be sold at market value, and avoid a foreclosure. A foreclosure for a lender can be very expensive and that’s why many will negotiate to avoid taking the home. Generally lenders will approve short sales only if there is a valid hardship, i.e. death in family, divorce, loss of job.
The following statistics are drawn from the Greater Antelope Valley Association of Realtors (GAVAR) Multiple Listing Service. My parameters chosen were single family residences listed, but only in the AV. Listings on the MLS but out of area weren’t counted. Variances may arise as some real estate agents don’t record accurate information on their listings.
As of 4/1/08
Active Listings……………. Short Sales………….%
4218…………………………………….234………….29%
Pending in Escrow
1055…………………………………….121…………. 11%
Sold In March (closed)
252………………………………………..10…………….4%
So 29% of the market is short sales, about 11% of those make it to escrow, and only 4% of those actually closed last month.
Of the 121 short pays in escrow, 60 went pending is March, when only 10 closed.
34 went pending in February, when only 13 short pays closed. And 13 have been in escrow since January, when only 9 short sales closed. Not very good numbers for short sales. We’ll keep updating.
[...] short sales and how small a percentage of short sale listings actually go to a closing and sale. You can read about what I’ve last written about short sales here. Has it improved? I’ll give you some recent numbers. First, keep in mind that different agents [...]