I’ve noticed that most new listings are “Standard Sale” listings now – not short sales or REO (bank owned) listings . As a matter of fact, seeing a new short sale listing today is sort of “quaint” – reminiscent of the “bad ol’ days” of the previous few years.

So I was curious to compare how many Notice of Trustee Sale notices were published for the county in July compared to a year ago – and it’s been cut in half.

July saw 153 recorded notices compared to over 300 last summer, but down substantially from over 500 in January, 2012.

Relatively speaking, very few foreclosures today are actually going to sale. The vast majority get postponed or cancelled as homeowners work things out with their lender.

This net effect has substantially reduced the number of homes for sale, which in turn shows how the supply and demand nature of things work in a free market.  But in the long term, it’s not a bad thing. As price points have climbed, many underwater homeowners have now found they have equity again and can plan accordingly. We’re also seeing the move-up market starting up again.

Hopefully, the painful challenges we’ve gone through over the past 5 years or so are now in the rear view mirror.