For years I’ve been promoting the important role of that short sales play for the betterment of the economy. Reports over the past few weeks suggest that the rest of the country is starting to realize this important role of short sales.
According to the National Association of Realtors, ten percent of all sales last year were Short Sale – almost 500,000 transactions.
A Bloomberg.com article reports that short sales almost tripled to 40,000 in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same months in 2008.
With current estimates reporting approximately 2 million housing units in the US somewhere in the foreclosure process, the Administration continues to search for solution for homeowners facing foreclosure. However, according to a recent CNN.com report, only about 4 percent of these at-risk homeowners receive long-term mortgage help – the vast majority of people facing foreclosure do not obtain relief that allow them to stay in the house in any sustainable manner.
Citigroup experts recently stated that the government’s current solutions have been ineffective at keeping people in their homes and it is predicted that another 8 million homes could fall to foreclosure.
Given these realities, Banks are finally seeing Short Sales as a necessary and important solution to take seriously. According to Richard Green, the director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, “It’s really finally dawning on banks that they’re better off with a short sale . . . I think banks were in denial.”
However, the banks are still in denial about one major reality of Short Sales . . .
