The property market collapse has pushed the rate of short sales to about 40 percent statewide. Lenders have had to concede that they’ll get less than what is owed on a house in order to allow it to be sold. Typically, it’s a measure of last resort for lenders with owners who are already behind on payments, with little chance of catching up or getting the loan modified. Sheryl Thomson, a Brevard County real estate agent, sold real estate for more than 10 years without ever having been involved in a short sale, but now said almost all of her sales are short sales. She has closed between 20 and 25 of them over the past two years.