A short-sale listing is one in which the owner still owns the property, but owes more money on his mortgage than he will get from selling the property. Short sales require the seller’s bank to agree to the final sale price. If more than one bank holds a mortgage on the property, each bank has to approve the sale.

Short sales are different than foreclosures or bank-owned properties. If the home-owner cannot sell the home through a short sale, the bank initiates foreclosure to try to sell the home directly, often in an auction. If the auction fails to turn up a buyer willing to pay at least what the bank was owed on the home, the home becomes Real Estate Owned (REO), where the owner is the bank. The bank then typically sells the property through a real estate agent.

If you are planning to make an offer on a short-sale listing, you should be ready to wait as long as one year for the banks involved in the process to approve or reject your offer. Many types of short sales are a long-shot. If you make an offer on one, you may want to continue touring and considering other homes in case the short sale does not go through.

Because the chance of success on short-sale offers is extremely low, TheLARealEstateTeam.com does not support short-sales for tours or offers.

Home sales increased 84.9 percent in December in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 41.5 percent, C.A.R. reported yesterday. “Sales continue to be strong, exceeding 500,000 units for the fourth consecutive month, and year-to-date sales are nearly 27 percent above last year,” said C.A.R. President James Liptak. “California home buyers benefited during the last half of 2008 from the high-cost loan limit of $729,750, which fell to $625,500 as of Jan. 1. The restoration of the high cost loan limit to the previous level would not only help a housing market still struggling to turn around, but also make financing more affordable for home buyers.”

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 544,580 in December at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity increased 84.9 percent from the revised 294,520 sales pace recorded in December 2007. Sales in December 2008 increased 5.9 percent compared with the previous month.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during December 2008 was $281,100, a 41.5 percent decrease from the revised $480,820 median for December 2007, C.A.R. reported. The December 2008 median price fell 2 percent compared with November’s revised $286,850 median price.

Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) January 12, 2009 — PropertyShark.com, the premier real estate data site, today released its quarterly report covering first-time residential foreclosures in Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle and New York City for the fourth quarter of 2008. (NOTE: This report covers aggregate foreclosure levels, to view individual foreclosure listings in an area, go to http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Foreclosures/index.html?utm_source=pr&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=0109forcs)

Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, and Miami Foreclosures Q4 08

Key findings:

• Los Angeles foreclosures jump 69% over Q4 2007, but drop 29% from Q3 2008 - New foreclosures in Los Angeles decreased 29% in Q4 2008 (11,232 new foreclosure auctions) compared to Q3 2008 (15,763), predominately due to the foreclosure state law that went into effect in September 2008. However, the number of new foreclosures was extremely high in December 2008, 110% higher than in October 2008, when the initial effects of the law were seen.

“In Los Angeles, the 110% increase in new foreclosure auctions in December over October is troubling,” stated Bill Staniford, CEO of PropertyShark.com. “Typically we see a slowdown at the end of the year due to the holidays and instead we see spike upwards.”

• Miami foreclosures increase by 18% over Q4 2007, but drop 10% from Q3 2008 - In Q4 2008,foreclosures in Miami continued to drop, with new foreclosures (2,290) 10% lower compared to Q3 2008, but still 18% higher compared to Q4 2007.
• Seattle foreclosures drop 12% from Q4 2007 and 37% from Q3 2008 - Seattle had 318 newscheduled foreclosure auctions in Q4 2008, down 37% from Q3 2008, and down 12% from Q4 2007.
• New York City foreclosures up 25% over Q4 2007, but drop 32% from Q3 2008 - In Q4 2008, newforeclosures in New York City dropped to the lowest level of the year. The current number (764) was down 32% from Q3 2008, but was still up 25% compared to the same quarter last year (611).
• Foreclosures in Queens jumped 84% in comparison to Q4 2007, while other boroughs decreased.The largest decline in foreclosures occurred in the Bronx (down 53%), followed by Brooklyn (down
  23%) and Manhattan (down 19%).
• The number of investors buying properties at auction increased in Queens. Twenty-three percent

(23%) of properties auctioned in Queens in Q4 2008 were bought by independent buyers, compared
to only 16% sold to independent buyers in Q3 2008, with the rest going back to the lender.

“While the state foreclosure law and the winter holidays helped New York City foreclosures drop to their lowest quarterly level of the year, the fourth quarter of 2008 jumped 25% compared to the same quarter last year” stated Staniford. “Beyond foreclosures, we are also seeing the inventory of New York City property for sale rise to decade high levels”.