50% Foreclosures in Housing Market

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Almost everyone knows that the current housing market is full of foreclosure properties, but few realize that nearly half of all homes for sale on the market are distressed properties and short sales. The bad news was delivered in a recent report that indicated the real estate industry still has a long way to go before it fully recovers.

A recent Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Housing Pulse Tracking Survey shows that the distressed property index rose to 48.6 percent in March of 2011, the highest level recorded in past 12 months. People are still buying homes though, as the RE/MAX Real Estate Company indicated in recent sales reports showing that home sales in some regions of the country were slowly picking up steam.

Some real estate agents have noted that aside from rising gas prices and the weather’s influence on local housing markets, today’s investors and first time homebuyers are also mindful of what is going on nationally. Some are speculating that the pervasive negative view of the nation’s current economic state has colored the housing market and had the effect of chilling sales too.