Foreclosure-related home sales in Georgia during the first quarter fell nearly 24 percent from a year ago in the first quarter but still accounted for more than one-third of sales in the state and metro Atlanta, according to a new report.
Despite signs the local housing market is improving, housing data firm RealtyTrac reported Thursday that 35 percent of home sales in Georgia in the first three months of 2013 were foreclosures, the largest percentage for any state.
A year ago nearly half of home sales were foreclosures.
In metro Atlanta, foreclosure sales accounted for 38 percent of transactions in the first quarter, the highest among the nation’s 20 largest metro areas by population.
Barry Bramlett, of Kennesaw-based Equity Depot, which researches metro Atlanta foreclosures, said investment funds are buying many homes, leaving few for other buyers. It’s uncertain what will happen to supply and pricing when investor purchases slow, he added.
“It’s kind of an illusion to assume that everything is going to be hunky-dory,” Bramlett said of the recent improving trend.
Equity Depot tracks advertised foreclosed homes set for auction. In May, pending sales were highest in Gwinnett County, followed by DeKalb, Fulton, Cobb and Clayton counties. Advertised sales were lowest in Walton and Fayette.
RealtyTrac said non-foreclosure short sales also continued to decline. With rising home prices, both sellers and lenders have less of an incentive to take a loss on property, according to Vice President Daren Blomquist.
“Underwater homeowners may be willing to stick it out a few more months or even years in the hope that they will be able to walk away with money at the closing table and without a hit to their credit rating,” Blomquist said in releasing RealtyTrac’s latest numbers.
Georgia had 3,030 short sales during the first quarter, down nearly 70 percent from the same period a year ago, and down 18 percent from the fourth quarter of last year.
The trend both locally and nationally is fewer foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac and another firm that tracks such transactions, CoreLogic. CoreLogic reported this week there were about 1.1 million homes in some stage of foreclosure nationally in April, down 24 percent from a year ago.
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