21 Percent of Maryland Home Sales Are ‘Short Sales’

By Whitney Teal

With all signs pointing to a recovering real estate market in the Washington, DC suburbs, short sales were still incredibly popular in Maryland this year, according to a report from real estate research firm RealtyTrac, the Washington Business Journal reported.

In Ellicott City there were 65 homes in some stage of foreclosure in June 2013, according to RealtyTrac. That's about 0.1 percent of the homes in Columbia. That rate is 14 percent lower than in May, but still 1,100 higher than in June 2012

Throughout Maryland, about one-fifth (21 percent) of homes sales were short sales, according to a June report. A short sale is a foreclosure alternative where the seller makes no profit because the home sells for less than the amount owed, according to AOL Real Estate.

In 2010, Ellicott City had about 24,672 housing units, according to the census, meaning there's less than one percent of homes in Ellicott City in foreclosure.

Only Nevada (30 percent) and Florida (29 percent) had a higher percentage of short sales, the newspaper reported.

Read the Washington Business Journal for more on the report.