In the world of real estate, being an effective representative for your client means staying on top of sales numbers and making sure that you have a clear picture of the market place.  So I spent some time today researching short sale numbers in San Diego County and found two interesting statistics: 

  1. There has been little change in the number of short sales that have closed escrow this year as compared to the same period last year.

                                      Detached Homes                Attached Homes

            2011                2172                                        1508

            2010                2074                                        1578

  1. The number of short sale listings that did NOT sell in the same period is much higher than I believe most people would expect. 

                                     Detached Homes                 Attached Homes

            2011                2371                                        1462

            2010                1769                                        1227

This means that roughly half of all short sale listings this year did not become successful sales transactions.  So what happened to these homes and their owners?  We can hope that some of them received permanent loan modifications or in some manner managed to reinstate their loans and keep their homes.  But it is likely that the majority became foreclosure statistics.

And why does the short sale listing failure rate seem to have increased this year over last?  Is it just because there were more attempted?  Are the bank requirements becoming more stringent?  Are there more inexperienced agents trying to handle the negotiations?

The answer is probably, “All of the above.”  But whatever the reason, don’t let your short sale become one of the failed statistics.  Make sure that you work with an experienced short sale Realtor who will pre-qualify you and your home and knowledgably guide your negotiations to a successful conclusion.

 

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