In south florida, ‘short sales’ out-number sales of bank-held properties

Sales of homes that are or have been in some stage of foreclosure accounted for over 26 percent of all 2011 home sales in South Florida, according to a report released Thursday by Irvine, Calif.-based real estate monitoring firm RealtyTrac.

That’s a higher percentage than the rest of the state or the nation.

Nearly 43,000 homes in South Florida – Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties – were sold at some point in the foreclosure process, mostly after the banks had taken possession.

For the first time, says RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist, short sales in South Florida outnumbered bank owned sales in the final months of 2011. Short sales are deals to sell property for less than what is owed on its mortgage.

Source: MiamiHerald.com