Things continue to head in the wrong direction, with Freddie Mac reporting that Real Estate Owned levels increased in every quarter last year, according to HousingWire. Fannie Mae held 86,000 REO properties by the end of 2009.

That post links to this one, which points out that distressed sales have reached 29% of the entire market. (!)

On a volume scale, there were 974,000 distressed sales in the last 12 months, 740,000 being REO and 234,000 as short sales, according to First American.

We are continuing to see REO sales grow here in the Pacific NW, but we have a long way to go before we approach the current situation in Detroit, where REOs accounted for 48% of all transactions. Let’s hope the Big Three automakers can stage a comeback.