by Calculated Risk on 5/02/2008 01:39:00 PM

According to San Diego REO broker Ramsey Su, the percent of REOs and Short Sales reached 63% of all pending sales in San Diego in April.

Click on graph for larger image.

From Ramsey:

"I do not have historical data, [but] it would be reasonable to assume the percentage of REOs and SSs is unprecedented. ... Short sales are typically still occupied by sellers, enjoying their “free rent” period. That explains why vacant listings are not moving up."

The percent of listings vacant has been steady for the last 6 months at about 38% - historically a very high level.

Update: Note that only a few of the pending short sales actually close. (hat tip Schahrzad)

Ramsey has just started tracking the percentage of Notice of Defaults (NODs) for higher priced homes (with original loan amounts above $500K in San Diego). In April, 21.3% of NODs were for homes with these larger loans. Ah yes, we're all subprime now!