Distressed real estate, which include foreclosure, preforeclosure and short sale homes, accounted for 48.1 percent of all sales nationwide in Feb. 2010, according to the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions (via DSNews.com).

Thomas Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys, provides some context:

“Short sales now account for the No. 1 category of distressed property. Losses on short sales are typically lower than for REO, and both lenders and the government are pushing programs to facilitate short sales. But as more and more people default or simply want to walk away from their properties, mortgage servicers are having trouble expeditiously processing these complicated transactions.”

Popkick is referring to the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, which the U.S. Treasury Department recently released to simplify and streamline use of short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure.

HAFA guidelines go into effect on April 5, 2010 (agents reading this might want to check out our training and certification course right here), meaning that short sales will only likely become more popular in the weeks, months and years ahead.

Foreclosures, of course, have always been popular because of their perceived value — buyers and investors are always looking to land the best deals possible.

To check out short sales (preforeclosures) and foreclosures in your area click here.

Hurry … these listings fly off our site fast because they are so desirable.

Los Angeles Times has put together an interesting multimedia presentation of the foreclosure problem that is sweeping the nation in general and California in particular. Watch it right here.

Down, up, down and up again.

Real estate is a roller coaster right now — you never know what’s going to happen from month-to-month on a consistent basis.

Today, National Association of Realtors® released its latest report, indicating that pending sales on existing homes unexpectedly rose 1 percent in Dec. 2009 compared to the previous month.

Lawrence Yun, a NAR economist, attributes the volatility to the tax credits ($8,000 for first timers and $6,500 for existing) currently available to homeowners/buyers.

Here’s a snip:

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