Guitar those are good comments. I am not sure how readily available bulk purchases are and on the other hand, bulk purchases are generally made by investors who then want to flip the properties. For Joe homebuyer just looking to purchase a home and get a smokin deal obtaining more obscure data such as how much an REO went for at auction is manual… Pretty much digging through the tax roll…Grinder….
One thing that is absolutely happening is that yes REO pricing does seem to be adjusting to reality a bit more. Again most REO properties do indeed hit the MLS. At any rate as more and more properties that sell do so as a result of a distress sale, the LESS you will have to adjust the median. Indeed, I do think the markedly lower median of November was due to the result of a much larger distress component.
My point is that perhaps you will not need to adjust the median numbers at all, you can simply use it because it may be composed of a heavy dose of distress sales.
It all depends on the neighborhood you are looking at. (I suppose)