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O.C. short sales gain traction

November 28th, 2009, 4:00 pm · 29 Comments · posted by Jeff Collins

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

(Update: Short sale listings also on the rise.)

Some Realtors say the sale of a home for less than the owner owes on it has gotten smoother, while others say those underwater sales are as difficult as ever.

Whatever the case, Orange County’s year-long uptick in “short sales” increased another notch last month, rising to 21.3% of all existing home sales, according to figures from the Southern California Multiple Listing Service.

That’s up from 19.4% in September and the highest percentage this year.

Short sales also outpaced the sale of repossessed homes, or REO’s, for a second straight month, even though REO sales increased slightly, too.

Details from the latest SoCal MLS report include:

  • Orange County home sellers completed 530 short sales in October, 80% more than took place at the start of the year.
  • Short sales on average accounted for 18.6% of O.C. homes sold through the MLS during the first nine months of the year, falling as low as 16.7% in March.
  • Repossessed homes resold by lenders accounted for 17.8% of sales in October, down from 44% at the start of the year.
  • All distressed sales combined jumped to just over 1,000 in October.
  • But distressed sales accounted for just 40.7% of all existing home sales last month, vs. 64.8% at the start of the year.

More on the housing market:

Posted in: Selling patterns • •
 
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 29 Comments

  • Tom M says:
    November 28, 2009 at 5 pm

    80% of what I look at in the Laguna Niguel area is a short sale.

    • Jc says:
      November 28, 2009 at 6 pm

      And many of them are pretending to be. But are Foreclosures, and bank-owned.
      And the “rapacious-Vendors” trying to fool everyone by playing with Square-footage “public-Listing” vs. “Public-Records” To keep prices up.

      • Dina says:
        November 30, 2009 at 6 am

        Yep that about sums it up. Stop buying people so the real prices can start showing up instead of feeding the greedy realtors again.

  • sangell3 says:
    November 28, 2009 at 5 pm

    I noticed that your colleague, the Mortgage Insider, reported that the big banks are having to eat the fraudulent loans they ’securitized’ and sold on to their ‘off balance sheet’ and GSE buyers.

    Rather than have a POS they sold revisit them, why not allow the deadbeat to give them what the property is actually worth. Beats having a foreclosure cum REO to deal with. The bank gains a ‘motivated’ seller times two. The loanowner who wants out and the bank who doesn’t want the property.

  • Mike Hawk says:
    November 28, 2009 at 6 pm

    Lets start calling short sales mortgage barf ups.
    As in, the banks are cleaning up mortgage barf ups!

  • foolishpleasure says:
    November 28, 2009 at 8 pm

    all theses blogs are irrelevant–
    its like a passenger on the titanic complaining
    about the food not being prepared correctly–

    this is what really matters–
    will the fed get audited or not–

    bernanke lies–
    http://www.cnbc.com/id/34182400

    denninger explains why–

    http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1671-The-Black-Hats-Strike-Back-Bernanke.html

  • foolishpleasure says:
    November 28, 2009 at 8 pm

    hey LANSNER- post my comments so the readers can
    actually get some relevant information

  • Quigley says:
    November 28, 2009 at 10 pm

    It’s all supply and demand. There’s a demand for bargain priced housing. Short sales are the only real supply, given that banks are withholding foreclosures or just not following thru on the foreclosure process.
    That’ll change, however.
    Just you wait.

  • Craig Grella says:
    November 29, 2009 at 2 am

    Interesting post. I’m writing a book on short sales for a national publisher. My research is indicating approximately 1 in 60 homes across the country is in default, making them each a very possible short sale opportunity.
    What worries me, is the shadow inventory at banks which will likely come on the market in some way over the next two years.
    It could get uglier.

    -Craig Grella
    Cornerstone Funding Services, Inc.
    http://www.cornerstonesvs.com

  • jim says:
    November 29, 2009 at 7 am

    Here in Minnesota short sales are becoming more common than foreclosures, but they are also lingering on the market forever as the banks take their sweet time processing.

  • bloodinthestreets says:
    November 29, 2009 at 8 am

    “Administration plans new efforts on foreclosures”

    Apparently a 4k redistribution as follows:
    “Under the $75 billion Treasury program, companies that agree to lower payments for troubled borrowers collect $1,000 initially from the government for each loan, followed by $1,000 annually for up to three years.”

    http://apnews.excite.com/article/20091129/D9C99L4O0.html

    • GetOverYourselves says:
      November 29, 2009 at 3 pm

      This makes me angry. Where are they getting the money to do this? from me and others that actually buy what they can and pay for what they purchase, living within our means.

    • Liar Loan says:
      December 1, 2009 at 12 pm

      blood-
      The Making Home Affordable program was announced in February. Nothing has changed.

  • BOGEY says:
    November 29, 2009 at 10 am

    short sales = comp killers = more underwater homedebtor sheeple = the ponzi finance deflationary debt deleveraging downward spiral continues with no end in sight.

    ie., see Japan’s lost 2 decades, now entering a third. . . .

    • shockg says:
      November 29, 2009 at 12 pm

      Funny how so many here cheer for widespread economic devastation of their very own country all in the hopes of getting their dream home for next to nothing.

      • BOGEY says:
        November 29, 2009 at 2 pm

        Who is cheering for such? Not me. Just pointing out facts (what is occuring with the macro econ landscape) due to govt largesse and central planning failures.

      • joe says:
        November 30, 2009 at 9 am

        i’m cheering.

        i feel much better that i was able to save and can now put a hefty down payment on a house if not buy the property outright. maybe get 2 or 3 places.

        i just picked up a place in henderson, nevada for $115,000 reduce from 250k!

        hopefully the OC has some good deals as i would like to get an sfr in the laguna niguel area and i’ve see 200k reductions on some overpriced stucco boxes there already.

  • shockg says:
    November 29, 2009 at 10 am

    Supply is tight and demand is sky high. You know what that means for prices.

    • Price of Bad Tidings says:
      November 29, 2009 at 5 pm

      Problems is that income growth are stagnant compared to price growth.

      Economic reality laughs at the “pent up demand” rhetoric.

    • SC2 says:
      November 30, 2009 at 10 am

      Looks like shockg wrong again based on today’s article…

  • 7_million_foreclosures says:
    November 29, 2009 at 2 pm

    Supply is sky high and demand is tied. You know what that means for prices.

  • shockg says:
    November 29, 2009 at 3 pm

    Sky high huh? Check your data….oh thats right you don’t have any.

    • BOGEY says:
      November 29, 2009 at 4 pm

      Here’s some data for you shocky….. the current housing market is controlled by the govt, Lol.

      Best of luck to all of the new, homedebtor buyers. They’re gonna need it.

      • shockg says:
        November 29, 2009 at 10 pm

        oh thats right. The evil Gov is doing this to you. Did Obama force you to sell your home in a feeble attempt to cash in on a falling market?

  • The Professor says:
    November 29, 2009 at 4 pm

    You idiots aint seen nuthin yet, it’s gonna get REALLY F’N UGLY out there. You better hang on to your buttz., cuz it’s gonna hurt. GLTA

  • foolishpleasure says:
    November 29, 2009 at 9 pm

    oc short sales gain traction–

    in other less pertinent news-
    real unemployment- you know the numbers the
    government doesnt tell you about- hits 22%

    http://www.layofflist.org/

    THEN THERES THIS LITTLE NUGGET

    23% of home mortgages are UNDERWATER–

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125903489722661849.html

    but miraculously the housing market has bottomed and all
    is well in status symbol land- otherwise known as the OC

  • Observer says:
    November 29, 2009 at 10 pm

    What nobody is talking about is how long this extend and pretend can continue. You gotta remember, the Wall Street Cronies aren’t dummys. And the government having selected it’s horse, is not likely to change its bet. Between printing money, and spending our taxes like there’s no tomorrow, I gotta believe that the this cycle is set to be supported indefinately. Housing prices will not come down regardless of how many people stop paying. It looks to me like we will easily double Japan’s lost decade.

  • Dina says:
    November 30, 2009 at 6 am

    Don’t worry the tax payers can fix it.