Foreclosure discount declines to 7.7 percent nationwide in September

An analysis by Zillow shows that home buyers nationwide could expect a discount of 7.7 percent in September when buying a bank-owned home compared with the same home in a non-distressed sale.

The discount narrowed from 9.1 percent in September 2011 and has fallen dramatically from a peak national discount of 23.7 percent in August 2009.  Zillow compared the actual sale price of foreclosed homes nationwide to the estimated price of the same home were it to sell in a non-distressed transaction.

While foreclosure sales continue to offer buyers discounts over traditional sales in the majority of metro areas, some of the areas hardest hit by foreclosures also are those where the price gap between foreclosed and non-foreclosed homes is the smallest. Areas with the smallest foreclosure discounts in September were Phoenix, 0 percent; Las Vegas, 0 percent; Sacramento, Calif., 0.7 percent; and Riverside, Calif., 1.8 percent.

“The smallest foreclosure discount is found in places where competition for homes is so high, people there are willing to pay the same amount for a foreclosure re-sale that they would for a non-distressed home simply to take advantage of historic affordability,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries.

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