Foreclosures Drop, But Still Remain High

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Credit Joe Moore / Valley Public Radio

Merced has been among the communities hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. (file photo)

Foreclosure-related home sales fell 10 percent in California during the second-quarter compared to last year. But repossessions still accounted for a big percentage of homes sold. Listing service RealtyTrac says four out of every 10 California homes sold between April and June were foreclosures.

Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac’s Vice-President said that number, "is extremely high. We’d expect to see less than 5 percent of all sales be foreclosure-related in a normal, healthy market."

He says on the flipside, the average price of a foreclosure in the second-quarter, at $248,676, was higher.

"It was actually up about 4 percent from the previous quarter, it was also up 4 percent from a year ago which we believe is a function of the fact that there’s somewhat of a limited supply of these foreclosures available now."

"Limited supply" compared to the demand from buyers and investors willing to buy them. Blomquist says the result is foreclosure homes getting multiple offers well above asking prices.