Short-sales losing appeal among first-time buyers

Buying a home in a short-sale transaction may offer a huge bargain – sale prices average 27 percent lower than non-distressed properties – but more first-time home buyers say the processing delays aren’t worth the trouble.

Among first-time buyers, the short-sale purchase share dropped to 39.7 percent of all short-sale transactions in August – the lowest share ever recorded for first-time home buyers, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

In November 2009, first-time home buyers’ share of short sales had reached a peak of 54.1 percent of all short-sale transactions.

Buyers are complaining that short-sale transactions take too long to close, with approval times often taking several months after a buyer even submits an offers. Some buyers frustrated at the delays are placing offers on multiple properties, planning to close on whichever one is approved the fastest.

The average time on market for short sales is 16.6 weeks, and the majority of that time is spent waiting for short sale approval, the HousingPulse Tracking Survey found.