Darci Marchese, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Those who are surfing for homes on the market may notice a handful of short sales.
Foreclosures have been hampering the housing market for years now, but another type of distressed property is seeing an uptick.
Short sales, where a bank agrees to let a property sell for less than what is owed on the mortgage, are on the rise.
Realty Trac’s Daren Blomquist says foreclosure sales were down 44 percent in Maryland from the previous years, while short sales made up 28 percent of all home sales in Maryland.
He says banks prefer short sales because the foreclosure process takes so long in Maryland.
However, Blomquist predicts more foreclosures will hit the market in six to 12 months.
D.C. has experienced a similar trend as Maryland, while distressed properties are down overall in Virginia.
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