Short Sale Reporting: Number of Short Sale Transactions are Up, But Just How Much?

Last year, the National Association of Realtors estimated that there were 500,000 short sales done in the United States – about 10 percent of all home sales. That might sound like a pretty big number, but in reality those numbers could be even higher.

There have been a lot of reasons historically for banks, realtors and the press to downplay short sales. Furthermore, many real estate investors, home sellers and homebuyers are not particularly interested in letting everyone know what they are doing when they work on a short sale transaction. It is not because there is anything underhanded about short sales. Much the contrary. However, these transactions take a lot of time and effort, and they have traditionally carried some stigma for the buyers, who are compelled to admit by virtue of the transaction that they are losing their house, not selling because they want to. In short, short sales are hard to report.

In other areas of the country, like some parts of Illinois, short sales made up nearly one third of the home sales in early 2010, and that trend does not appear to be dissipating. So if you are interested in getting involved in short sales, now is definitely the time to act.

You will probably start to see more press on short sale transactions in the coming months. For example, HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative), the federal government’s attempt to control and streamline the short sale process, is making big headlines as real estate investors, property owners and lenders try to determine just how useful this piece of legislation will be. There are a lot of different opinions, but the larger, net effect is that short sales are beginning to feel more accessible to the general public. That is important to you as a real estate investor because a homeowner who has already accepted the idea of a short sale will be much easier to work with, and lenders who are already basically prepared to negotiate will be a welcome change to anyone who has been in the short sale business for a while.

So if you have been considering short sales as a real estate investment or wealth generation option, then now is definitely the time to act. The market is ready for the short sale, and so are your buyers, sellers and lenders.

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