The following table was compiled by housing economist Tom Lawler and published by Calculated Risk.
These are positive trends. All of these markets have a high percentage of distressed sales (the numbers speak for themselves), but the percentage has fallen in all of them except Reno, where it has remained constant. In all of the markets, the percentage of total sales that are foreclosure sales has fallen, in some cases dramatically.
And the percentage of short sales has gone up in each market, which indicates that lenders prefer to take a loss rather than to foreclose. Short sales are more likely to remain occupied or to be rehabbed quickly by new owners. Bank-owned properties are more likely to sit, perhaps for long periods of time.
We’ve still got a long way to go to solve the nation’s housing crisis, but this is one of many trends that indicate we’re at least moving in a positive direction.