Now short sales are growing at a faster rate than foreclosures and most economists expect the distressed home market to have a 5% increase in the number of short sales this coming year. That expectation combined with the fact that banks generally lose 20% more on a foreclosure than a short sale make it no surprise that banks such as  Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup are scrambling to accommodate this inevitable shift in the market. Read more here US banks take hit to clear home loan books.