For the first time ever, sales of properties in some stage of foreclosure (largely short sales) outnumbered sales of bank-owned properties (REO) in the third quarter, as short sales continue to gain market share at the expense of REO and sales of completed foreclosures at auction. Read More »

Iinventories of foreclosures accumulated during the processing slowdown in the wake of the Robogate scandal are slowing shrinking, absorbed by demand so healthy that distress sales are actually rising faster on a national basis than full-priced homes. Read More »

The national average discount on foreclosures has shrunk by 1.4 percentage points over the past year as competition for foreclosures as inventories tighten is driving prices closer to full-price properties. Read More »

Despite rising prices and shrinking foreclosure inventories, 65 percent of active real estate investors plan to buy as many or more residential properties in the next 12 months as they did in the past year, according to a new joint BiggerPockets.com/Memphis Invest national survey conducted by ORC International for BiggerPockets.com, the nation’s largest and most active real estate investing social network, and Memphis Invest, one of the nation’s leading providers of single-family rental real estate investment services. Read More »

The average foreclosure-related sales price in the second quarter ($170,040) soared 6 percent from the first quarter of the year and was up 7 percent from the second quarter of 2011 – the first annual increase in average price since Q2 2010 and the biggest annual increase since Q4 2006. Read More »

As interest grows in creating a marketplace to sell securitized blocks of single family rentals, similar to the securitization of mortgages, perhaps as early as this year, the authoritative ratings service Fitch Ratings today made it clear that the asset class poses some unique risks and that high investment grade ratings will be difficult to attain due to the lack of historical data and “ambitious growth strategies by regional operators”. Read More »

On the same day the Census Bureau released the Q2 2012 Housing Vacancies and Homeownership report showing single family rental vacancies in the second quarter were lower than they have been since the first quarter of 2006, yet another well financed asset management company announced it will spend more than a billion buying, renting and selling distressed homes. Read More »

The explosion of single family rentals-houses bought by real estate investors and rented to a single tenant-is creating a new category of property management companies to serve them. Read More »

With growing demand and record shortages of entry-level properties sweeping the nation, the company famous for buying “ugly houses” is sitting pretty. Read More »

Widespread shortages in housing inventories, especially in states that have experienced large price declines since 2006, are reducing the time homes for sale are spending on market, especially move-in ready foreclosures (REO) . Read More »