Foreclosures down substantially
According to CoreLogic’s October National Foreclosure Report, completed foreclosures fell 30 percent year-over-year. There were 48,000 completed foreclosures in October 2013, down from 68,000 in October 2012, dropping 25.6 percent from September 2013. October was a good month.
CoreLogic notes that there have been 4.6 million completed foreclosures since housing crashed in September 2008, with completed foreclosures averaging 21,000 per month between 2000 and 2006.
As of October 2013, approximately 879,000 homes in the U.S. were in some stage of foreclosure, known as the foreclosure inventory, compared to 1.3 million in October 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 31 percent. The foreclosure inventory as of October 2013 represented 2.2 percent of all homes with a mortgage compared to 3.1 percent in October 2012. The foreclosure inventory was down 2.9 percent from September 2013 to October 2013.
Foreclosures continue to decrease
“Year over year, the foreclosure inventory, as a percentage of all homes with a mortgage, has declined almost a full percentage point to 2.2 percent,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “This is good news for the housing and mortgage finance markets, but the rate remains elevated relative to the pre-crisis level of about 0.6 percent. There are almost 900,000 properties still in foreclosure, but a normal level would be only a quarter of the current stock.”
“The scourge of an elevated foreclosure inventory is easing. In October, every state posted a year-over-year decline in completed foreclosures, which is positive news,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Additionally, the rate of serious delinquencies, which fell more than 25 percent year over year, is at the lowest level in nearly five years, which is great news as we head into a new year.”
Regional performance varied
Florida, Michigan, California, Texas, and Georgia had the most foreclosures in the 12 months ending in October 2013, while the District of Columbia, North Dakota, Hawaii, West Virginia, and Wyoming had the least.
The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were Florida (7.1 percent), New Jersey (6.7 percent), New York (4.9 percent), Maine (3.8 percent) and Connecticut (3.7 percent). The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were Wyoming (0.4 percent), Alaska (0.6 percent), Nebraska (0.6 percent), North Dakota (0.7 percent) and Colorado (0.7 percent).
