Foreclosures less of a drag on housing market in 3Q

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BasicGov, Flickr

Fewer foreclosure signs can be seen across the Central Ohio housing market.

Brian R. Ball

Staff reporter- Columbus Business First

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The number of distressed residential properties continue their decline at a rapid pace in Central Ohio.

A release from Columbus Realtors shows the number of short sales and foreclosures in the third quarter were less of a drag on the housing market.

There were 1,155 lender mediated homes put up for sale during the period ended Sept. 30, or 34.9 percent fewer distressed properties than the 1,775 distressed homes listed during the same period a year ago.

(The Realtors consider a property as "lender-mediated" if it is listed on the trade and marketing associations' Multiple Listing Service as a bank-owned/REO (real estate owned), Department of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Administration, short sale, or foreclosed property.)

The number of lender-mediated home sales also dropped significantly during the quarter, accounting for just over 13 percent of all sales.

Indeed, third quarter sales of distressed homes fell to 1,019, a 40.8 percent plummet from 1,722 in the third quarter of 2013.

"To give you an idea of how far we've come, back in early 2011, almost half of the homes sold were distressed," Milt Lustnauer, Columbus Realtors' president, said in the news release. "One year ago, it was one in four. But during the third quarter of this year, only about one out of every eight homes sold were distressed."

Brian R. Ball covers commercial real estate and development for Columbus Business First.