26% of US Homes Sold in First Quarter Were in Foreclosure
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iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Foreclosures sales are still dominating the U.S. housing market. According to RealtyTrac, they accounted for 26 percent of all home sales nationwide in the first quarter of 2012.
Daren Blomquist with RealtyTrac says the figure is indicative of the country’s sluggish economic growth.
“The housing market is going to continue to be weighed-down by these foreclosure sales, and in turn when that housing market is weighed-down that is going to weigh-down the overall economy,” he explains.
So when can Americans expect relief?
“We’re not going to be completely out of the woods until we get down to a point where foreclosure sales only represent about 5 percent of all sales rather than what we’re seeing now is foreclosures are representing 26 percent of all sales,” Blomquist says.
Noting that there’s still a 17-month supply of foreclosures on the market, he says,”It’s going to be at least another year and a half to two years before foreclosures stop dominating the housing market.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio