Dara PetersonSanta Barbara CA, 93117805-214-6968

Foreclosure Pricing for Allegheny County PA (RealtyStore.com)

Median pricing of Freddie Mac / Fannie Mae foreclosure listings in Allegheny County now lead the area in low-priced foreclosures for sale, according to RealtyStore.

Online PR News – 14-February-2011 –Santa Barbara, CA — February 14, 2011 — The median price of a Freddie Mac / Fannie Mae foreclosure listing is now $34,900 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, according to RealtyStore.com. Foreclosed houses listed for sale by government sponsored enterprises (GSE’s) lead the Allegheny/Pittsburgh market in terms of low prices. Although the total number of foreclosure listings in Allegheny County is relatively small, the area’s median foreclosure list price, including bank foreclosures listed for sale, is nearly 70% below the market median price. RealtyStore’s study of foreclosure trends in the area included foreclosure listing counts, pricing and listings by REO seller.

“Foreclosure listings are skewing to significantly lower prices in Allegheny County, including metro Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,” commented Peter Ranck, Vice President for RealtyStore. “Although the gross number of foreclosures for sale, including Fannie Mae, banks and HUD homes, is relatively small compared to other markets, the foreclosure median price differential is tremendous. The Detroit, Michigan area still offers some of the lowest priced foreclosed homes in the nation with a median price of $24,900, but the Allegheny market is offering prices that rival the next low-price leading markets such as Cleveland, Ohio and St. Louis, Missouri, where Fannie Mae foreclosure median prices run $30,500 and $39,750 respectively”

Given over 10,000 homes are currently listed for sale in Allegheny County, foreclosure listing saturation is relatively light, at 4% of the market. Still, the actively listed foreclosures make up about 50% of the area’s total REO inventory, meaning banks and the GSE’s have brought about half of their total foreclosure portfolios to market at this time. These remaining foreclosed houses, which are not yet listed, represent the area’s dormant, shadow inventory of repossessed property.

Ownership of the area’s REO inventory breaks down with 32% owned by Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac, 5% as HUD homes, and 63% as bank owned foreclosures. In terms of listing incidence (how much of each owner’s inventory is being actively listed for re-sale), Fannie / Freddie have 64% of their foreclosure inventory active on the market, HUD has 82% of its property listed, while banks are actively marketing 44% of their portfolios in Allegheny County.

Pricing levels also vary considerably by seller. HUD homes post the highest median price at $55,000. Banks follow with a higher number of individual listings at a median price of $39,950. Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac listings post the lowest median price at $34,900.

Each REO seller has a material level of inventory priced below $10,000. Foreclosure list prices currently top out for Fannie Mae at $299,900 for a foreclosure featuring 2,263 square foot, brick construction, 4 bedrooms, and 3 baths on Plainfield Avenue, Pittsburgh, and include a stately, stone faced 2,686 square foot bank foreclosure with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms on Washington Road, Pittsburgh listed for just $279,900.

Definitions:

Median price is the price point where one-half of home listings are priced above and one-half listed below the price.

REO is an abbreviation for Real-Estate-Owned. These are houses, condominiums, townhomes or land which completed the foreclosure process, having title fully assumed by a lending institution, bank or a government sponsored enterprise (GSE) such as the VA, Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac or HUD.

Foreclosure listing is used to define an individual REO which is listed for re-sale with a published, public for-sale price.

Shadow inventory is the count of REO properties in a portfolio of institutionally owned assets which are not currently listed with a re-sale price on the market.

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About RealtyStore
RealtyStore (www.realtystore.com), a division of Nations Info Corporation, is the leading provider of foreclosure listings and discount property data nationwide. RealtyStore’s mission is to empower its customers with the tools, education and analysis required to identify and potentially maximize profits with undervalued real estate. Collected from hundreds of public and private sources, RealtyStore’s proprietary database includes over 1 million listings including pre foreclosures, foreclosures, short sales, tax defaults and rent to own or owner financed listings. As the foreclosure listings industry leader, RealtyStore.com is the most visited foreclosure website, averaging over 1.1 million unique visitors per month in Q3, 2010. Realtystore.com is the only specialized foreclosures website to rank in the Hitwise Top 20 Internet Usage Report for the Real Estate Category (October 2010)

Reporting methodology
RealtyStore County Foreclosure Trends studies provide the total number of REO foreclosure properties with a recording date on or before the date of this release. REO properties have completed the foreclosure process and have been repossessed by a bank, lending institution or government sponsored loan guarantor such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD or the VA. REO title holders, inventory counts and prices in any area can vary at any time. REO counts and prices are accessed through RealtyStore’s proprietary database which is derived through hundreds of public and private data providers. Local housing market data is derived from third party and public records offices.