Foreclosure Deals Drop 22% as Rising Prices Delay Sales
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Foreclosure-related U.S. home sales fell 22 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as rising prices reduced the incentive to sell for owners who owe more than their properties are worth, RealtyTrac said.
A total of 190,121 homes in some stage of foreclosure or taken by banks were sold this year through March 31, down 18 percent from the previous three months, the data seller said today. Those deals, including short sales, or transactions in which lenders let homeowners sell for less than what they owe, accounted for 21 percent of first-quarter residential transactions, compared with 25 percent a year earlier.