Distressed U.S. Home Sales: Nearly 3 in 10

According to First American CoreLogic, short sales and foreclosures accounted for 29% of all U.S. home sales this past January.

Riverside, Calif., led the nation's top 25 markets with so-called distressed sales accounting for 62% of the transactions. Fort Lauderdale was at 42% and Miami was at 32% although those numbers are down compared with a year ago.

Although Florida and foreclosures seemingly are synonymous, only two Florida markets -- Orlando and Cape Coral -- cracked the top 10 for distressed sales. CoreLogic, a California research firm, says the most likely reason is that foreclosure cases take longer to process in the Sunshine State than in California, Arizona or Nevada.