Report: Investors Buying Foreclosures on West Coast

For West coast states, the foreclosure wave is reported to be dying down as third parties, who are typically investors, snatch up foreclosed homes, according to the February 2012 ForeclosureRadar report, which only includes Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

While third party sales were down month-over-month, as a percentage of all sales, third parties purchased 37.6 percent of foreclosures, up from 20.3 percent a year earlier, and 2.2 percent in February 2008, according to the report.

From February 2011 to February 2012, foreclosure sales to third parties increased 84.62 percent in Oregon, 61.33 percent in Nevada, 39.72 percent in California, 23.31 percent in Arizona, and 7.35 percent for Washington.

Foreclosure filings dropped in California, Nevada, and Washington on a month-over-month basis, while Arizona saw a 6 percent increase and Oregon jumped 39.4 percent.

"Government intervention into the foreclosure crisis has clearly succeeded in slowing foreclosures. Unfortunately, it has also largely failed to deal with the real problem-negative equity. While principal balance reductions and short sales are friendlier than foreclosures for eliminating negative equity, foreclosures are an extremely effective, if perhaps crude, cure as well." Stated Sean O'Toole, founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar.