Foreclosed home sales in area down in early 2011

There were 62 foreclosed homes sold in the Fort Smith region during the first quarter of  2011, down from the 72 in same quarter of 2010, and with the average price discount hitting almost 30% on a foreclosed home sold in Crawford County.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac reported that foreclosure homes accounted for 28% of all U.S. residential sales in the first quarter of 2011 and the average sales price of properties that sold while in some stage of foreclosure was about 27% below the average sales price of properties not in the foreclosure process — unchanged from a 27% discount in the previous quarter and up from 26% discount in the first quarter of 2010.

Sebastian County had 34 foreclosed homes sold during the first quarter at an average price of $99,109. In the 2010 period there were 42 foreclosed homes sold in Sebastian County at an average price of $103,155. The foreclosed homes sold in Sebastian County during the quarter represented 15.38% of all home sales in the period, according to RealtyTrac. However, the foreclosed home sales is 14.78% of all home sales based on home sales figures from the Arkansas Realtors Association.

Crawford County had 17 foreclosed homes sold during the first quarter at an average price of $83,272. The average sales prices was 29.47% lower than the average price for non-foreclosed home sales. In the first quarter of 2010 there were 16 foreclosed homes sold in the county at an average price of $95,846. The foreclosed homes sold in Crawford County during the quarter represented 16.67% of all home sales in the period. Based on the ARA home sales figure, the percentage grows to 18.27%.

Leflore County in Oklahoma had 10 foreclosed homes sold during the first quarter at an average price of $58,626. The average sales prices was 37.45 lower than the average price for non-foreclosed home sales. In the first quarter of 2010 there were 12 foreclosed homes sold in the county at an average price of $51,000. The foreclosed homes sold in Leflore County during the quarter represented 16.13% of all home sales in the period.

Arkansas had 624 foreclosed homes sold during the first quarter, down from the 844 in the first quarter of 2010. Also, the 624 homes represented 17.21% of homes sold statewide during the quarter. The average foreclosed home sale price was $112,519, a 25.2% discount from the average sale price of non-foreclosed home sales.

Oklahoma had 653 foreclosed homes sold during the first quarter, down from the 924 in the first quarter of 2010. The 653 homes represented 13.57% of homes sold statewide during the quarter. The average foreclosed home sale price was $93,013, a 35.96% discount from the average sale price of non-foreclosed home sales.

A total of 158,434 U.S. properties in some stage of foreclosure were sold to third parties in the first quarter, a decrease of 35.79% from the first quarter of 2010, according to the RealtyTrac report. The average sales price of properties in some stage of foreclosure was $168,321, a 26.66% discount from the average sale price of non-foreclosed home sales.

Bank-owned properties that sold in the first quarter had been repossessed by the bank an average of 176 days prior to the sale, while properties that sold in the earlier stages of foreclosure in the first quarter were in foreclosure an average of 228 days before selling.
 
“While foreclosure sales continue to account for an unusually high percentage of all residential home sales, sales volume is well off the peak we saw in the first quarter of 2009, when nearly 350,000 foreclosure properties sold to third parties,” RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said in a statement. “While this is probably helping to keep home prices relatively stable, it is also delaying the housing recovery. At the first quarter foreclosure sales pace, it would take exactly three years to clear the current inventory of 1.9 million properties already on the banks’ books, or in foreclosure.”