Foreclosures comprise 44% of Phoenix home sales, says ASU

[Source: Associated Press] — Sales of foreclosed homes in the metro Phoenix area made up nearly half of all existing homes sold in the area last month, a new study shows.  Of the 7,505 resale home transactions recorded in Maricopa County in August, 44% were bought out of foreclosures, according to the Realty Studies department at Arizona State U.  That’s a 2% increase from July and more than double the 20% of sales recorded in August 2007.

There’s no end in sight for the housing market slump, according to the director of Realty Studies at ASU’s Polytechnic campus in east Mesa.  “Most potential buyers still confront a weak economy, slumping levels of confidence and tighter underwriting guidelines,” Jay Butler said.  “Thus, the local housing market still contains considerable uncertainty over when any potential strengthening can be expected.”

The federal government takeover of the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) has driving mortgage prices down, bad economic news is keeping buyer sentiment low, Butler said.  The median price of a home bought out of foreclosure in August was $161,875, compared with a non-foreclosure price of $193,550.  A year ago the median prices were $220,010 and $258,000 respectively.  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]