U.S. homes in the process of foreclosure sold at an average 27 percent discount in the first quarter compared with non-distressed houses, and purchases of distressed properties fell to less than half the peak set two years ago, Bloomberg reported.

According to RealtyTrac Inc., a total of 158,434 houses that sold in the period received notices of default, auction or repossession, down 16 percent from the fourth quarter and 36 percent from a year earlier.

At that pace, it would take three years to clear the supply of distressed and bank-owned houses, the company said. About 1.9 million U.S. houses are in some stage of foreclosure, and the average first-quarter sale price of a distressed property was $168,321, down 1.5 percent from a year earlier.