by Calculated Risk on 5/19/2014 12:05:00 PM

From CoreLogic: Cash Sales Made up 40 Percent of Total Home Sales in February

Cash sales made up 40.2 percent of total home sales in February 2014, down from 43.7 percent the previous year and 40.8 percent the previous month. Cash sales share comparisons should be made on a year-over-year basis due to the seasonal nature of the housing market , and by that measurement, the trend in cash sales is clearly down. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25 percent. The peak occurred in January 2011, when cash transactions made up 46.2 percent of total home sales.

Reports that cash sales were up sharply in 2014 were incorrect. This fits with data from Tom Lawler.

And a post from Sam Khater at CoreLogic: REO Inventory Rising Once Again

After reaching a trough in August of 2013 of 375,000 properties, the number of real estate owned (REO) properties increased 15 percent to 430,000 as of March 2014 (Figure 1). The increase in REO properties was broad based, rising in 46 states. While the increase was moderate nationally, some states had large increases. Idaho led the way with the stock of REO properties nearly doubling between August 2013 and March 2014. Maryland had the 2nd largest increase in the number of REO properties, which increased 78 percent, followed by Nevada (up 70 percent), Oregon (up 47 percent) and North Dakota (up 42 percent).

The rise in REOs across most states reflects several inter-related factors ...

This graph from CoreLogic shows the recent increase in REOs.

Note: The number of REOs at Fannie and Freddie was down slightly in Q1, but has increased in recent quarters. The FDIC reported a slight decrease in REOs in Q4 (dollars). So most of the recent increase in REOs reported by CoreLogic was probably due to private label (the worst of the worst).