Glut of foreclosed homes may deepen real estate downturn.

A recent article in the New York Times estimates that lenders own more than 872,000 foreclosed homes at this time:

All told, they own more than 872,000 homes as a result of the groundswell in foreclosures, almost twice as many as when the financial crisis began in 2007, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate data provider. In addition, they are in the process of foreclosing on an additional one million homes and are poised to take possession of several million more in the years ahead.

For each home a lender sells, they foreclose on many more:

In Atlanta, lenders are repossessing eight homes for each distressed home they sell, according to March data from RealtyTrac. In Minneapolis, they are bringing in at least six foreclosed homes for each they sell, and in once-hot markets like Chicago and Miami, the ratio still hovers close to two to one.

Before the housing implosion, the inflow and outflow figures were typically one-to-one.

The problem is apparently widespread and will contribute to continuing stagnation for several more years.