COLUMBUS, Ohio – Good news for anyone thinking about selling a home in central Ohio: The rate at which foreclosures and other distressed properties are sucking up the oxygen in the market is slowing down, according to figures from a regional real estate organization.
The number of distressed properties, which are sold at much less than their market value and drag down prices overall, was down 40.8 percent in the third quarter of the year, compared to the same period one year ago, according to data released Wednesday by the Columbus Board of Realtors.
The number of lender-mediated closed sales during the third quarter accounted for just over 13 percent of all sales – down 40.8 percent from the previous year according to the board’s 3Q-2014 Lender-Mediated Properties Report.
“To give you an idea of how far we’ve come, back in early 2011 almost half of the homes sold were distressed. One year ago, it was one in four. But during the third quarter of this year, only about one out of every eight homes sold were distressed,” board president Milt Lustnauer said.
The number of lender-mediated sales – defined as bank-owned, HUD, short sale, VA, or foreclosure –listed for sale during the July-September period was down 34.9 percent from the number listed during the same time in 2013, the report said.
The board says the inventory of foreclosures and short sales in the central Ohio housing market is down from 25 percent four years ago to 9.7 percent during the third quarter of this year.