Sales of bank-owned properties last quarter hit their lowest level since early 2008, according to a new report released Thursday.
Foreclosure-related sales - sales of homes at some stage in the foreclosure process, or already repossessed by lenders - were down 18 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, to 190,121. That's a 22 percent decline from a year ago, RealtyTrac said Thursday.
There were 101,371 distressed sales during the first quarter of 2013, the report noted. That accounted for 21% of the total market, down from 25% a year earlier.
During the height of the foreclosure crisis in early 2009, 45% of all homes sold nationally were foreclosures. In many locations, such as California's Central Valley, foreclosures weren't just a big share of the housing market, they were the entire the housing market.
Sales of homes already in the foreclosure process also dropped 20 percent from both those quarters.
"We're on our way back to a normal housing market when it comes to foreclosures," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.
