Distressed Sales Drag Down Home Prices

An analysis of home prices through the end of February by CoreLogic shows a year-over-year decline of 6.7 percent when distressed properties – REO and pre-foreclosure short sales – are included in the numbers.

Take out the distressed factor, and the company says home prices are “showing signs of stability,” down just 0.1 percent from a year ago.

February’s 6.7 percent drop marked the seventh straight month that CoreLogic has recorded a decline in its national home price index, counting both distressed and non-distressed properties.

“When you remove distressed properties from the equation, we’re seeing a significantly reduced pace of depreciation and greater stability in many markets,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. “Price declines are increasingly isolated to the distressed segment of the market, mostly in the form of REO sales, as the stock of foreclosures is slowly cleared.”

A separate report released by Clear Capital also points to the impact of distressed property sales on home price trends.

Clear Capital’s data extends through the end of March, and the company says home prices in the western part of the country, where distressed homes account for some 40 percent of total sales, are continuing to steadily decline and have now fallen to a new, double-dip low for this cycle.