This year has seen a stronger housing market. Most of the recovery can be attributed to record-low interest rates but one of the reasons for this improvement is the number of distressed homes being bought. Homeowners, who saw rising home prices as more houses were coming off the market, turned to foreclosure and short sales so they can grab the home of their dreams at discounted prices.

CoreLogic recently reported that its home price index rose 0.7% in January from the previous month, making it the eleventh consecutive month of home price increases. January’s figure was also up 9.7% from 12 months earlier. It was the biggest annual increase since April 2006. When not including distressed sales, January’s prices rose 1.8% and 9% from the previous year.

Foreclosure-related sales accounted for 21% of all U.S. home sales in 2012 and short sales — when the home is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage — made up 22% of all sales, according to RealtyTrac. So far, all but two of all 50 states — Illinois and Delaware — posted yearly gains in home sales, and 92 of the top 100 statistical areas measured by population showed year-over-year gains in January, up from 87 in December 2012.