Short sales rise as banks start approving them in lieu of foreclosures - Banks are beginning to go along with short sales in increasing numbers. Short sales tripled in the first six months of 2009 from the same period a year earlier. Yet for each short sale, there were 25 foreclosures started or completed in the first half of this year. "It's really finally dawning on banks that they're better off with a short sale," said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. "I think banks were in denial." Banks are increasing such sales under pressure from the Obama administration and lawmakers who criticized them for favoring foreclosures and delaying short sales. Lenders and loan servicers also stand to receive up to $2,000 in incentives to close short sales under a Treasury Department plan unveiled Nov. 30.

Short sales rise as banks start approving them in lieu of foreclosures - Banks are beginning to go along with short sales in increasing numbers. Short sales tripled in the first six months of 2009 from the same period a year earlier. Yet for each short sale, there were 25 foreclosures started or completed in the first half of this year. "It's really finally dawning on banks that they're better off with a short sale," said Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. "I think banks were in denial." Banks are increasing such sales under pressure from the Obama administration and lawmakers who criticized them for favoring foreclosures and delaying short sales. Lenders and loan servicers also stand to receive up to $2,000 in incentives to close short sales under a Treasury Department plan unveiled Nov. 30.