A recent report found that more than 25 percent of 2010 first-quarter residential property sales were comprised of
foreclosures.
RealtyTrac's U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report found that even though the number of foreclosed residences sold between January and March of this year was smaller than that of the previous quarter (14 percent) and the same time period last year (33 percent), Americans are still interested in purchasing these pieces of property. When it came to buying a home, 232,959 consumers choose one that was in some state of the foreclosure process, making up 31 percent of all sales for the first quarter, the report found.
Qualifying for a loan for one of these foreclosed homes may have been easier due to their discounted prices. The RealtyTrac report found that consumers were able to buy these
properties for nearly 27 percent less than others in the same area that were not foreclosures.
In addition to their low prices, consumers likely rushed to buy these properties in order to take advantage of the homebuyers
tax credit and low
mortgage rates.