Puget Sound Market

Has anyone else noticed the trend going away from short sales into more REO properties? I speculate this is due to the long processing on the part of the lenders to get short sale approvals and increasingly, I am hearing more agents and buyers both steering away from short sales and just waiting for the property to revert to an REO. A year ago, the buzz was for everyone to "get a deal" with short sales but they're not deals anymore since they're already not worth what was paid for them in 2005/2006, i.e. if one paid $400,000 for a home then and it's only worth $320,000 now and they're trying to do a short sale for $300,000-$320,000, not much of a deal....and they're typically listing them for LESS once the bank takes them back, without the hassle and long wait!