Local foreclosed-home sales fell in '11

3/2/2012

Sales of foreclosed homes in metro Toledo fell nearly 11 percent in 2011 from 2010, but they rose 38 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, according to figures released Wednesday by housing data firm RealtyTrac Inc.

In metro Toledo, 2,025 foreclosed homes were sold in 2011, or about 20 percent of all home sales, with an average sale price of $55,916, according to RealtyTrac, which is based in Irvine, Calif. In 2010, 2,267 foreclosed homes were sold, or about 29 percent of all sales, with an average price of $60,766.

In Ohio, 21,982 foreclosed homes were sold last year, a decrease of 20 percent from 2010. The total equaled 17 percent of all Ohio home sales, with the average sale price at $76,453. In Michigan, sales were down 2 percent to 41,637 units, or 29 percent of all home sales, with an average sale price of $69,027.

RealtyTrac said that nationally foreclosed home sales were down 2 percent last year to 907,138, or 23 percent of all sales, with an average sale price of $164,349.

"Sales of foreclosures in the fourth quarter continued to be slowed by questions surrounding the proper foreclosure paperwork and procedures," said Brandon Moore, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "Even so, foreclosures accounted for nearly one in every four sales during the quarter and for the entire year. We expect to see foreclosure-related sales increase in 2012, particularly preforeclosures sales, as lenders start to more aggressively dispose of distressed assets held up by the mortgage-servicing gridlock over the past 18 months."

According to a separate study by California-based CoreLogic, just more than a quarter of all Toledo residential properties with a mortgage were "under water" in the fourth quarter of 2011, meaning that the borrowers owed more on their mortgages than the homes were worth. That number was virtually unchanged from the same period a year earlier. In both years, about 37,000 properties fell into that category.

According to the RealtyTrac report, 590 foreclosed homes were sold in metro Toledo in the fourth quarter of 2011, up from 428 in the year-earlier period. The total was 22 percent of all sales. The average price was $53,278.

Foreclosed-home sales in Ohio totaled 4,486 in the fourth quarter, down 18 percent from a year ago, and equal to 16 percent of all home sales. The average sale price was $76,339. In Michigan, sales totaled 8,887 in the fourth quarter, up 4 percent from a year earlier, and equal to 37 percent of all sales. The average sale price was $78,603.

U.S. sales of foreclosed homes in the fourth quarter totaled 204,080, down 2 percent from a year earlier. The total was 24 percent of all sales, and the average sales price was $164,944.

Nevada had the highest percentage of foreclosed-home sales of any state in 2011, with those sales accounting for 54 percent of all home sales in the state. Michigan ranked fifth while Ohio was 15th.