WASHINGTON (MNI) – While the U.S. housing market has shown signs of life in
recent months, many local markets continue to struggle with “high levels of
negative equity,” RealtyTrac report said Monday, with the many still working
through rising levels of foreclosure activity.

The firm’s “Election 2012 Housing Health Check” also found distressed home
sales is still 10% or more of all sales in the majority of counties nationwide,
and distressed sales account for one in every four sales in 20% of all counties.

The following is the full text of the statement by RealtyTrac:

RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for
foreclosure properties, today released an exclusive report on the health of
local housing markets compared to four years ago. Titled “Election 2012 Housing
Health Check,” the report found that 65 percent of local housing markets
nationwide are worse off than four years ago based on an analysis of five key
metrics impacting housing in more than 900 counties nationwide.

The key metrics analyzed were average home prices, unemployment,
foreclosure inventory, foreclosure starts and share of distressed sales. In the
919 counties with data available for all five metrics, 580 (65 percent) showed
at least three out of the five key metrics worse off than four years ago, while
in 315 counties (35 percent) at least three of the five key metrics were better
off than four years ago.

“The U.S. housing market has shown strong signs of life in recent months,
but many local markets continue to struggle with high levels of negative equity
as the result of home prices that are well off their peaks. In addition,
persistently high unemployment rates are hobbling a robust real estate recovery
in most areas,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “While the
worst of the foreclosure problem is in the rear view mirror for a narrow
majority of counties, others are still working through rising levels of
foreclosure activity, inventory and distressed sales as they continue to clear
the wreckage left behind by a bursting housing bubble.”

Other high-level findings from the report

Home prices are down from four years ago in the majority of counties
nationwide, while unemployment rates are up in more than 90 percent of all
counties.

The foreclosure picture is mixed, with slightly more than half of all
counties documenting lower foreclosure inventory and fewer foreclosure starts
compared to four years ago.

Distressed sales of properties in some stage of foreclosure or bank-owned
are a smaller share of residential sales than four years ago in almost exactly
half of all counties, but the distressed sale share is still 10 percent or more
of all sales in the majority of counties nationwide, and distressed sales
account for one in every four sales in 20 percent of all counties.

** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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