Useless (?) short sales listings math

A quick search of ZipRealty's short sale listings in Orange County, Calif. resulted in a total of 470 properties. Since the county's estimated population in 2006 was just about 3 million, that's one short sale on the market for every 6,383 residents.

For comparison, that's about the same amount as the cities of Glendale and Phoenix, Ariz. (452) combined. Just so you know, these two cities had an estimated combined population of 1,754,304 in 2006. That is equivalent to one short sale property listed on the market for every 3,881 residents. By the way, the total population in the Phoenix metro area is somewhere near 3.5 million. If you were to look at the whole Phoenix area, there is a short sale on the market for every 1,966 residents.

In case you're curious, the city of San Diego is looking at one short sale listing on ZipRealty for every 1,658 residents. Riverside County is leading this pack right now, with a short sale listing for every 977 residents.

What is the significance of these stats? Not really that much, although they could give a vague indicator of which real estate markets are faring the worst right now. One other random note:

*The cheapest house in Orange County listed on ZipRealty as a short sale is a 628 sq ft 1 bedroom condo in Santa Ana. Price: $199,000. The most expensive is a 4 bedroom, 3,700 sq ft house in Irvine listed for $2,389,000 that is very close to Newport Beach. Difference between the two prices: $2,190,000.