Sales of existing homes are up, which sounds like good news — except that if you really look at what is going on — it’s really sort of bleak. About half of all home sales in December were foreclosures, says Marketplace, where the house is sold for less than what is owed on the mortgage.

Some people call these buyers vultures, others are grateful that someone is willing to buy the house and keep it from being boarded up.

Buyers in these markets will only go for super cheap houses. If I weren’t such a nice person, I might call them vultures. Rick Sharga does.

RICK SHARGA: Vultures actually have their role in the food chain. You don’t want to leave rotting carcasses around because they spread disease.

Sharga is senior vice president of Realty Trac.

SHARGA: Anybody who can help to get families into these homes to get them from being vacant, boarded-up, potential meth labs into a place where a family can live and thrive is actually doing a service.

So hooray for “vultures,” because having someone buy your house is always better than the alternative.

Home sales up, but not really [Marketplace]
(Photo:Crismateski )

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