2/3 of Home Buyers Open To Foreclosures; Real Estate Confidence ...

Confidence in the real estate market continues to grow in 2011, and as that force stabilizes prices in many areas, home buyers are gaining confidence in the process of buying foreclosures. ?This is the conclusion of a recent study by Realtor.com, and it seems to coincide with what we are seeing in the Seattle real estate market.

While the process of buying foreclosures was a mystery to most home buyers a few years ago, it?s become a commonplace?occurrence?in today?s market. ?While short sales are still a boondoggle that many buyers won?t attempt, bank-owned foreclosures have actually become a fairly standardized transaction. ?Home buyers are seeing that the process is very similar to buying a traditional home, with just a bit more paperwork and time involved.

The study showed that 65% of home buyers thought it was likely that they would buy homes that had gone through the foreclosure process. ?Many of these buyers end up buying traditional resales, but their confidence in the REO/bank-owned arena makes for a more confident general buying public.

Seattle foreclosures are still just a fraction of the overall market, and most Seattle and Eastside foreclosures sell fairly quickly. ?Pricing is sometimes discounted, although many foreclosures in the Seattle area are being priced at the same level as traditional resales. ?The lack of inventory on the market is allowing many of these foreclosures to sell for maket value.

From Inman on the Realtor.com story:

Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of potential homebuyers surveyed by Realtor.com this month say they are likely to buy a home that?s been through the foreclosure process, compared with 25 percent in October 2009.

The vast majority of those looking at real estate owned (REO) properties planned to live in them ? only 6.9 percent of potential homebuyers said they were looking to buy a foreclosure as an investment, down from 13.2 percent in October.

The ?unexpected interest? in foreclosures is a result of reductions in supply, expectations that home prices will rise, and changing attitudes towards foreclosures, said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Realtor.com operator Move Inc.

Seattle Foreclosures ? Bellevue Foreclosures ? Kirkland Foreclosures ? Redmond Foreclosures ? Shoreline Foreclosures

??Seattle Homes, LLC: ? Sam DeBord, Managing Broker, Realtor
Coldwell Banker Seattle: Coldwell Banker Danforth & Associates
Twitter |?Facebook |?LinkedIn | Sam (at) SeattleHome.com

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