In yet another indication that the housing recovery is on track, CoreLogic reports that foreclosures held steady in April, with fewer foreclosed properties in the pipeline.
Last month there were 52,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. – about the same number reported in March, but down from 16% from the 62,000 foreclosures reported in April 2012.
There were about 1.1 million homes in some stage of foreclosure in April, according to CoreLogic's data. This represents a decrease of about 24% compared to the 1.5 million homes in various stages of foreclosure in April 2012.
Foreclosure inventory as of April 2013 represented 2.8% of all homes with a mortgage, compared to 3.5% in March 2013.
Foreclosure inventory was down 2% from March 2013 to April 2013.
For comparison purposes, CoreLogic points out that completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month between 2000 and 2006. Since the financial crisis was declared in September 2008, there have been approximately 4.4 million completed foreclosures in the U.S.
‘The shadow of foreclosure and distress continues to fade, with the annualized sum of completed foreclosures having declined for 17 straight months,’ said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. ‘Six states have year-over-year declines in the foreclosure inventory of more than 40 percent, and in Arizona and California, the year-over-year decline is more than 50 percent.’
