There were about 37,000 completed foreclosures in October – a decrease of 12.3% compared with about 43,000 in September and a decrease of 27.1% compared with October 2014, according to CoreLogic.
The decrease in completed foreclosures comes after a nearly 50% month-over-month increase in September that was the result of certain states clearing out a large amount of their foreclosure inventory all at once.
States with the highest numbers of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ended in October included Florida (86,000), Michigan (59,000), Texas (30,000), Georgia (25,000) and California (24,000). These five states accounted for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.
States with the lowest numbers of completed foreclosures included the District of Columbia (76), North Dakota (239), Wyoming (515), West Virginia (571) and Hawaii (700).
As of the end of October, there were about 463,000 properties, or 1.2% of all homes with a mortgage, in the national foreclosure inventory – a decrease of 21.5% compared with about 589,000 properties, or 1.5% of all homes with a mortgage, in October 2014. This is the lowest rate since November 2007, CoreLogic reports.
States with the highest foreclosure inventory rates in October included New Jersey (4.5%), New York (3.6%), Hawaii (2.5%), Florida (2.5%) and the District of Columbia (2.3%).
Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 6 million completed foreclosures across the country, and since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, there have been about 8 million homes lost to foreclosure, according to the firm.
About 1.3 million mortgages, or about 3.4% of all homes with a mortgage, were in serious delinquency (90 days or more past due, including those loans in foreclosure or real estate owned properties) as of October – a decrease of 19.7% compared with October 2014. This is the lowest serious delinquency rate since December 2007.
‘Improved economic conditions and more foreclosure completions have pushed the foreclosure rate lower,’ says Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a release. ‘The national unemployment rate declined to five percent in October, the lowest since December 2007, and the CoreLogic National Home Price Index has risen 37 percent from its trough.’
‘We are heading into 2016 with the lowest foreclosure inventory in eight years, thanks to escalating home values and progressive improvement in the U.S. economy,’ adds Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. ‘A large proportion of the remaining foreclosure inventory is clustered in New York, New Jersey and Florida. Equally encouraging is the drop in mortgage delinquency rates, reflecting the stronger labor market and tighter underwriting since 2009.’
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