IRVINE, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 31, 2014) - RealtyTrac^® (www.realtytrac.com), the nation's leading source for comprehensive housing data, today released its November 2014 Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report, which shows that the median sales price of U.S. single family homes and condos in November was $190,000, flat with the previous month but up 15 percent from a year. The median sales price of distressed homes -- those in the foreclosure process or bank-owned -- reached a high of $128,625, the highest since December 2009, 35 percent below the median sales price of non-distressed properties, $199,000. Distressed home prices increased at a faster pace, up 18 percent from a year ago while non-distressed home prices were up 14 percent during the same time period.

"As the price of distressed properties reaches a new high the pool of investor activity that has been fueling the housing recovery may dry up," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "However, 20 states still saw annual decreases in distressed property prices so we will continue to see a fragmented recovery as investors move from once hot markets such as Phoenix, Atlanta and many California markets and into markets such as Charlotte, Columbus, Ohio, Dallas and Oklahoma City.

"Home price appreciation on average was 6 percent among all metro areas with a population of 500,000 or more," Blomquist added. "We saw strong price appreciation in Rust Belt cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago contrasted with single-digit price appreciation in many coastal California markets, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and the District of Columbia."

The November median sales price -- which included both distressed sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure and non-distressed sales -- was up 35 percent from a trough of $141,000 in March 2012 but still 20 percent below the previous peak of $237,537 in August 2006.

The share of homes priced above $200,000 increased while the share of homes below $200,000 decreased. The biggest increase in share of home sales was in the $500,000 to $1 Million range (up 20 percent). Sales over $1 million were also up 15 percent.

Markets with highest home price appreciation
Among metro areas with a population of 500,000 or more and sufficient home price data, those with the biggest annual increase in median sales price were Detroit, Mich. (up 32 percent), Toledo, Ohio (up 23 percent), Dayton Ohio (up 20 percent), Modesto, Calif. and Lakeland Fla. (both up 18 percent).

"We are finding many home buyers frustrated as we enter the Holiday Season in Ohio," said Michael Mahon, executive vice president at HER Realtors, covering the Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton markets. "With a less than seasonally normal available homes inventory to choose from, coupled with a reduction in available foreclosure inventory, many home buyers are finding themselves in multiple offer situations or unable to find their dream home for the Holidays."

Other major metro areas with double-digit appreciation compared to a year ago included Houston, Texas (up 16 percent), Memphis, Tenn. (up 16 percent), Atlanta, Ga. (up 15 percent), Chicago, Ill. (up 13 percent), Miami, Fla. (up 13 percent) Sarasota, Fla. (up 12 percent), Cincinnati, Ohio (up 11 percent) and Seattle, Wash. (up 11 percent).

"Seattle home prices started the year at an appreciation rate of about 15 percent, but the pace gradually slowed and we expect prices in 2015 to hover between 4-6 percent. We see that as a good thing because if home prices keep appreciating in the double digits for too long, we could run into the same boom/bust market of years past," said OB Jacobi, president of Windermere Real Estate, covering the Seattle market. "Buyer demand in Seattle has been incredibly strong this year and we believe this will continue into 2015, but inventory levels, which are at an all-time low right now, should begin to inch up, providing more buyers with a greater selection of homes to choose from."

Markets with accelerating home price appreciation
Home price appreciation accelerated in 42 of the 102 (41 percent) metro areas nationwide with a population of half a million or more and with sufficient home price data.

Markets with the fastest-accelerating appreciation included Dayton, Ohio (20 percent annual appreciation this year compared to 1 percent annual depreciation last year), Akron, Ohio (17 percent annual appreciation this year compared to 3 percent annual depreciation last year), Tulsa, Okla. (8 percent annual appreciation this year compared to 4 percent annual depreciation last year), Augusta-Richmond metro area (15 percent annual appreciation this year compared to 3 percent annual appreciation last year), and Lancaster, Penn. (8 percent annual appreciation this year compared to 3 percent annual depreciation last year).

Other major markets with accelerating home price appreciation were Madison, Wisc. (11 percent annual appreciation this year compared to 3 percent a year ago), Omaha, Nebr. (9 percent annual appreciation this year compared to 1 percent a year ago), Greensboro, N. Car. (8 percent annual appreciation compared to 0 percent a year ago), Cleveland, Ohio (16 percent annual appreciation this year compared to 8 percent a year ago) and Toledo, Ohio (23 percent annual appreciation this year compared to 16 percent a year ago).

Las Vegas, Central California and Florida post highest distressed sale share
Short sales and distressed sales -- in foreclosure or bank-owned -- combined accounted for 12.6 percent of all residential property sales in November, down from 13.7 percent the previous month, and down from 14.8 percent in November 2013.

Metro areas with the highest percentage of distressed and short sales combined were Las Vegas (36.3 percent), Stockton, Calif., (27.6 percent), Miami, Fla. (26.9 percent), Jacksonville, Fla. (25.1 percent) and Modesto, Calif. (25.1 percent).

Short sales share reaches pre-recession levels nationwide, up from a year ago in
five states
Short sales accounted for 3.4 percent of all residential property sales in November, down from the previous month and a year ago and below the pre-recession average of 4.5 percent a month in 2006.

Bucking the national trend five states saw an increase in short sales share compared to a year ago, including Rhode Island (3.6 percent compared to 0.1 percent a year ago), West Virginia (2.4 percent compared to 1.0 percent a year ago), Vermont (1.5 percent compared to 0.7 percent a year ago), New Jersey (6.2 percent compared to 5.2 percent a year ago) and Illinois (7.3 percent compared to 7.2 percent a year ago).

Metro areas with the highest percentage of short sales were in Miami, Fla. (11.2 percent), Tampa, Fla. (7.6 percent), Orlando, Fla., (7.6 percent), Chicago, Ill. (7.5 percent), and Las Vegas, Nev. (7.3 percent).

Bank-owned sales share sees slight uptick from the previous month but down from a year ago
Sales of bank-owned properties nationwide accounted for 7.8 percent of all U.S. residential sales in November, up slightly from the previous month but down from 9.0 percent a year ago.

Metro areas with the highest percentage of bank-owned sales were in Las Vegas, Nev. (23.9 percent), Stockton, Calif. (23.6 percent), Modesto, Calif. (21.1 percent), Toledo, Ohio (20.5 percent) and Bakersfield, Calif. (18.2 percent).

Florida has 6 of the top 10 metros for foreclosure auction sales
Sales at the public foreclosure auction accounted for 1.4 percent of all U.S. residential property sales in November, up from 1.3 percent in October and up from 0.9 percent in November 2013.

Metro areas with the highest percentage of sales at foreclosure auction were Lakeland, Fla. (6.3 percent), Las Vegas, Nev. (5.1 percent), Jacksonville, Fla. (4.9 percent), Orlando, Fla. (4.3 percent) and Miami, Fla. (3.5 percent), Cincinnati, Ohio (3.4 percent), Cape Coral, Fla. (3.2 percent), Dayton, Ohio (3.0 percent), Tampa, Fla. (2.9 percent) and Louisville, Kentucky (2.9 percent)

Metro areas with the biggest annual increases in the share of foreclosure auctions were Cincinnati, Ohio (3.4 percent compared to 0.6 percent a year ago), Jacksonville, Fla. (4.9 percent compared to 2.4 percent a year ago), Orlando, Fla. (4.3 percent compared to 2.1 percent a year ago), Lakeland, Fla. (6.3 percent compared to 4.2 percent a year ago) and Louisville, Kentucky (2.9 percent compared to 0.8 percent a year ago).

Report methodology
The RealtyTrac U.S. Residential Sales Report provides median prices for sales of residential properties nationwide, by state and metropolitan statistical areas with a population of 500,000 or more. Data is available at the county level upon request. The report also provides a breakdown of short sales, bank-owned sales and foreclosure auction sales to third parties. The data is derived from recorded sales deeds and loan data, which is used to determine cash sales and short sales. Statistics for previous months are revised when each new monthly report is issued as more deed data becomes available for those previous months.

Definitions
Residential property sales: sales of single family homes, condominiums/townhomes, and co-ops, not including multi-family properties.

Distressed sales: sale of a residential property that is actively in the foreclosure process or bank-owned when the sale is recorded.

Distressed discount: percentage difference between the median distressed sales price and the median non-distressed sales price in a given geographic area.

Bank-Owned sales: sales of residential properties that have been foreclosed on and are owned by the foreclosing lender (bank).

Short sales: sales of residential properties where the sale price is below the combined total of outstanding mortgages secured by the property.

Foreclosure Auction sales: sale of a property at the public foreclosure auction to a third party buyer that is not the foreclosing lender.

Report License
The RealtyTrac U.S. Residential & Foreclosure Sales report is the result of a proprietary evaluation of information compiled by RealtyTrac; the report and any of the information in whole or in part can only be quoted, copied, published, re-published, distributed and/or re-distributed or used in any manner if the user specifically references RealtyTrac as the source for said report and/or any of the information set forth within the report.

Data Licensing and Custom Report Order
Investors, businesses and government institutions can contact RealtyTrac to license bulk foreclosure and neighborhood data or purchase customized reports. For more information contact our Data Licensing Department at 800.462.5193 or datasales@realtytrac.com.

About RealtyTrac
RealtyTrac is a leading supplier of U.S. real estate data, with nationwide parcel-level records for more than 129 million U.S. parcels that include property characteristics, tax assessor data, sales and mortgage deed records, Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) and 20 million active and historical default, foreclosure auction and bank-owned properties. RealtyTrac's housing data and foreclosure reports are relied on by the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury Department, HUD, numerous state housing and banking departments, investment funds as well as millions of real estate professionals and consumers, to help evaluate housing trends and make informed decisions about real estate.

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