Of the homes sold in May, 38.3 percent were foreclosure resales, up from a revised 37.6 percent in April and 5.4 percent in May a year ago.
The median price paid for a home last month was $339,000, down 4.2 percent from $354,000 for the month before, and down 30.0 percent from $484,000 for May a year ago when the median was at its peak. Around half the drop in median is due to depreciation, the other half due to shifts in the types of homes selling, and how those homes are financed.
The typical mortgage payment that home buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,569. That was down from a revised $1,645 in April, and down from $2,266 for May a year ago. Adjusted for inflation, mortgage payments are back to where they were in mid 2003. They are 23.3 percent below the spring 1989 peak of the prior real estate cycle. They are 38.0 percent below the current cycle's peak in June 2006.