Foreclosed Homes: Quarter of All Sales

The excess of foreclosed homes that has flooded the market is taking its toll on overall sales. About one-fourth of all homes sold in the second quarter of 2010 were steeply discounted, due to their foreclosure status, according to RealtyTrac. It is estimated that banks will take over a record 1.2 million homes this year due to foreclosure, a rise from 1.1 million last year. In 2005, prior to the housing crisis, that number was around 100,000. Some 24 percent of all second-quarter home sales were purchased at a price discounted at least 26 percent, as compared to homes in the same market that had not gone through the foreclosure process. RealtyTrac estimates that it will take about three years for the market to work the accrued foreclosed properties through the system.