Pace of foreclosure sales picks up

Sales of bank-owned homes, the sector of the market that has kept South Florida’s shaky real estate sector afloat, have begun to rise again after foreclosure slowdowns last fall, according to a report released Thursday by foreclosure-data firm RealtyTrac.

Driven by deep discounts and a resurgent rental market, foreign-based investors have flocked to buy up South Florida’s foreclosed homes, paying with cash converted from the Brazilian real, the Venezuelan bolivar and Canadian dollar.

There were 2,222 sales of bank-owned homes in the first quarter of 2011 in Miami-Dade County, up 10.7 percent from the previous quarter, according to RealtyTrac. In Broward, 2,059 sales of bank-owned homes indicated an increase of 9.5 percent from the previous quarter.