Currently in our market (Ocean City, Maryland and Worcester County), there are 78 pending “short sale” transactions as reported to our local Multiple Listing Service.  I have 2 short sale situations that have been pending since 3/30/09 and 4/1/09 respectfully, with no response back from either lender.

Is the time it is taking to process short sales hampering our market rebound?

My answer is…without question!

Consider the following data

*In 2008 a total of 1167 properties changed hands thru our Ocean City/Worcester MLS.

*At present, we are 10-15% behind where we were at this same point last year.

*The 78 pending short sale situations will account for about 10% of the total sales for this year.

*That does not account for any future short sales that go under contract between now and the end of the year, all waiting for lender approval.

I am not even considering the many buyers who have walked away from their potential short sale purchase because they got fed up with waiting so long.

It seems there should be a way to streamline the process for lenders.  All lenders should be using the same forms, same process, etc.  What about a “clearing house” for all lenders nationwide to process these loans?  One of my short sale sellers said the reviewer for her case has 300+ cases to review!

I have heard many different dollar amounts (anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000) that flow into the system from the sale of a property.  Multiply that number by the huge amount of short sales waiting to get processed…and we could very possibly see a rebound in the housing sector.

If real estate contributed to the situation we are in…maybe real estate can get us out!!!