Are Foreclosures selling faster than traditional listings in your area?

I asked myself that question and then went to the Grand Rapids Michigan MLS statistics to see what kind of

answers I could find. As of Mid-March 20.59% of the listings on the MLS are Bank owned or short sale

properties  and yet 50% of the sales year to date are Bank owned or short sale. Yes, it looks like a lot of

business in short  sales and foreclosures in our area. But are they selling faster?

Currently there are 1171 pending sales on the MLS:

•  51% are Traditional Transactions
• 49% are Bank Owned or Short Sales.

 Now to look at the time on the market to see if either type of listing was selling faster. In every time slot 30

days or less up to 160 days+ on the market the percentage stayed the same, approximately 50/50.

Now let's look at closed business since 1/1/2008:             2400 sales ~ 1202 of them short sales

                                                                          Again 50% of the business.

The average short sales price is $78,400 compared to the overall average home sale price of $119,600.

Then I took the short sales out of the total and did an average of the sales that are traditional sellers. The

 average home sale price is now $160,900.

After all this calculation, my thoughts are: we have a small percentage (20%) of the current inventory of

properties influencing sales & attracting media attention. 

•  Short sales get all the press
•  Buyers see the reports
• So buyers offer lower prices
• Sellers think they have to accept them
• Because of the overwhelming attention that has been given to the short sale
• That pressure can bring sellers of the traditional property down on their expectations.

Perception is reality and I think the reality of the situation is:

We have some people that have had difficult times and their homes went through foreclosure. 

 Because of that it will impact the rest of us.

 Now, will the media focus on:

•  The fact that not all of us are in foreclosure, probably not.
• And if you want to sell your home, it might be the best time ever to buy up, probably not.
• And Real Estate Sales are not as bad as portrayed, probably not.

If you are considering purchasing a bank foreclosure or short sale, read my article:

Bank Foreclosures are NOT fun, Be Prepared to Earn your Bargain

Stripped & Violated - This House Could be Next Door

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