Foreclosure sales 26 percent of 2010 total

A foreclosed home is seen for sale on 16th Street NW in Washington on August 22, 2010. More than 2.3 million homes have fallen into foreclosure since the recession began in later 2007, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Economists expect the number of foreclosures to grow into 2011. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

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IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- More than a quarter of U.S. home sales in 2010 involved homes in foreclosure, an online foreclosure marketplace said.

Realtytrac.com said 26 percent of all residential sales involved a property in foreclosure, down from 29 percent in 2009, but higher than the 23 percent of 2008.

The sales price for homes in the process of foreclosure averaged 28 percent lower than homes not involved, a slightly higher discount than the previous year, the company said.

In 2010, 831,574 homes in some stage of foreclosure were sold, down 31 percent from 2009 and down 14 percent from 2008.

Sales involving properties in foreclosure tailed off toward the end of the year. In the fourth quarter, sales from foreclosures fell 22 percent from the third quarter to 149,303, Realtytrac said.