Distressed properties accounted for just over one-third of all residential sales in Illinois during the first three months of 2010, according to new data to be released Wednesday.

More than 8,400 distressed properties sold in Illinois during the first quarter, and the state recorded some of the highest discounts for bank-owned properties in the nation, said a report by RealtyTrac, an online marketplace that tracks foreclosed properties.

Bank-owned foreclosed homes in Illinois sold for an average of almost 46 percent less than non-foreclosed homes sold during the quarter, and the discount for other distressed properties, including short sales, was 39 percent.

Despite the discounts, the sales volume of distressed properties in the state fell 11 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009 and dropped almost 6 percent from the first quarter of last year.

Nationally, 232,959 homes sold during the first quarter were in default, scheduled for auction or had reverted back to their lenders, a 14 percent drop from 2009’s fourth quarter and down 33 percent from the first quarter of 2009, when foreclosure sales peaked.