Short sales surge statewide

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.