If you’re ready to buy a home and don’t mind a little ghoulish bargain-hunting, now is a great time to hit the various foreclosure sites online, reports Reuters. “Large real estate sites such as PropertyShark.com and RealtyTrac.com showcase a growing number of U.S. properties in pre-foreclosure and foreclosure.”

RealtyTrac says traffic to its site has tripled to about 3 million unique visitors every month from 1 million just two years ago. It estimates as many as 40 percent of visits come from first-time home buyers rather than investors or brokers.

Yahoo Real Estate saw a fivefold increase in traffic to its foreclosure listings since it expanded the site last year.

“There are a lot of people who have been priced out of the market and they’re seeing their rents go up,” said Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing at RealtyTrac. “Probably until next year, the level of foreclosure activity will remain at historically high levels.”

“Foreclosure Web sites expand audience” [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

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