Foreclosures Make Up Smaller Share of Sales

Irvine, CA, Jan. 26, 2012 -- Foreclosures made up a smaller proportion of all homes sold in the U.S. in last year's third quarter, tracking firm RealtyTrac said.

Nevertheless, foreclosures still represented 20% of all homes sold in the July-September period, roughly four times more than at the height of the housing boom.

Foreclosure sales peaked in 2009 at 37.4%.

As a portion of all homes purchased, foreclosure sales declined in the third quarter from 22% in the April-June period.

They were down from 30% in the third quarter of 2010, RealtyTrac said.

"As the foreclosure industry gets clarity on the foreclosure process, they will be able to push more of these foreclosures to sale," said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac.