Distressed home sales finally hit pre-recession lows

Sales of distressed homes fell in July to their lowest levels since at least the recession.

Distressed sales, including foreclosures and short sales, made up 4.9 percent of all transactions in Chicago in July, according to Crain’s. That’s the lowest total for such sales since the Chicago Association of Realtors began recording the data in January 2008.

Distressed sales haven’t accounted for less than 5 percent of monthly home transactions since January 2008, when they made up 9 percent of the market just as the recession was beginning. By December 2008, distressed sales made up 40 percent of all transactions.

Distressed sales peaked in February 2012 at 55 percent of transactions in the city. The number has decreased steadily since then.

Foreclosure filings by lenders have receded to “pre-crisis levels,” Geoff Smith, executive director for Housing Studies at DePaul University, told Crain’s. That leads him to believe distressed sales figures could fall further.

Distressed sales are not evenly distributed throughout the city. In Englewood, distressed sales made up 40 percent of all sales in the last 12 months. In Lincoln Park, distressed sales made up only 0.8 percent of all sales over 12 months.

City and county officials have launched several initiatives to try to return foreclosed homes to the property tax rolls, including one propgram that has worked to unload 3,200 foreclosed properties for less than market value. [Crain’s] — Joe Ward