Central Ohio continued to see a considerable decrease in the number of short sales and foreclosures in the third quarter of 2014. There were 1,155 lender mediated homes put up for sale during 3Q-2014 in central Ohio, which was 34.9 percent fewer than the 1,775 distressed homes listed during the same period in 2013.

The number of lender-mediated closed sales during the third quarter accounted for just over 13 percent of all sales – down 40.8 percent from the previous year according to the 3Q-2014 Lender-Mediated Properties report from Columbus REALTORS®.

“To give you an idea of how far we’ve come, back in early 2011, almost half of the homes sold were distressed,” said Milt Lustnauer, 2014 President of Columbus REALTORS®.  “One year ago, it was one in four. But during the 3rd quarter of this year, only about one out of every eight homes sold were distressed.”

A property is considered to be “lender-mediated” if it is listed as a bank-owned/REO, HUD, short sale, VA, or foreclosure.

In the 3rd quarter, distressed listings were down to 9.7 percent of the market. One year ago, distressed inventory made up almost 10.6 percent of the inventory. But the inventory of foreclosures and short sales in the central Ohio housing market is down from 25 percent four years ago.

“The number of short sales and foreclosures added to the market has been trending down for the last three years,” said Lustnauer. “This is positive news as it suggests the market has absorbed the surplus of distressed properties and there will be less of a negative impact on property values.”

3Q-2014 Lender-Mediated Properties Report
Previous Lender-Mediated Properties Reports

The Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service (MLS) serves all of Franklin, Delaware, Fayette, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway and Union Counties and parts of Athens, Champagne, Clark, Clinton, Hocking, Fairfield, Knox, Logan, Marion, Muskingum, Perry and Ross Counties.