Distressed sales (short sales and foreclosures) are routinely part of residential real estate markets — a large part of some local markets around the U.S. over the past few years. There has been progress nationally in 2012.
While foreclosure activity remained relatively modest in the Austin and Central Texas compared to many major metropolitan areas, it is becoming an even smaller influence on sales and property values here. Foreclosed properties accounted for almost 15% of residential sales here in 2011, but less than 10% of all residential sales in the Austin area so far in 2012. (Compare that to a national average of 24% in October 2012, which was down substantially from 2011.)
Even more encouraging, foreclosures represent just 3.4% of listing inventory now — 208 active REO listings today out of just over 6,000 total listings. Most lenders are honoring a seasonal foreclosure moratorium, so the number of foreclosures will likely increase somewhat after January 1, but this is not a busy segment of our local market.
Nationally, RealtyTrac reports: “Foreclosure filings were reported on 186,455 U.S. properties in October, an increase of 3 percent from September but still down 19 percent from October 2011 ….”
Read the rest of that news and more in the complete Market Trends Newsletter.
Bill Morris on Austin Real Estate 
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