CoreLogic: Foreclosures Down 69% From 2010 Peak

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., reported 36,000 completed foreclosures in August, virtually unchanged from July; down by 20 percent from a year ago; and down by nearly 70 percent from its 2010 peak.  

The company’s monthly National Foreclosure Report also reported the national foreclosure inventory fell by 25.2 percent in August from a year ago. As of August, the national foreclosure inventory included 470,000, or 1.2 percent, of all homes with a mortgage compared to 629,000 homes, or 1.6 percent, a year ago.  

CoreLogic said the 36,000 foreclosures in August compared to 46,000 a year ago and 117,357 from September 2010. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, CoreLogic reported 5.9 million completed foreclosures across the country; since homeownership rates peaked in second quarter 2004, nearly 8 million homes were lost to foreclosure.  

CoreLogic also reported the number of mortgages in serious delinquency (90 days or more past due, including those loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 20.7 percent from a year ago, to 1.3 million mortgages, or 3.5 percent, the lowest serious delinquency rate since January 2008. The foreclosure rate (defined as the share of all loans in the foreclosure process) was at 1.2 percent as of August, back to January 2008 levels.  

“Mortgage performance continues to improve, however there is a dichotomy between the performance of recently originated loans and legacy loans,” said CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft. “Newly delinquent loans are at the lowest rates during the last two decades. That reflects the tight underwriting and improved economy during the last few years. However, the foreclosure pipeline of legacy loans remains elevated. Over the last 12 months, there have been 500,000 completed foreclosures, more than double the number during normal periods.”  

Other report highlights:

— As a basis of comparison, before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006.

–States with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in August were Florida (94,000), Michigan (47,000), Texas (32,000), California (27,000) and Georgia (26,000). These five states accounted for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.

–States with the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in August were South Dakota (45), the District of Columbia (116), North Dakota (319), Wyoming (492) and West Virginia (544).

–States with the highest foreclosure inventory rate as a percentage of all mortgaged homes for the 12 months ending in August were New Jersey (4.6 percent), New York (3.7 percent), Florida (2.6 percent), Hawaii (2.5 percent) and the District of Columbia (2.4 percent).

–States with the lowest foreclosure inventory rate as a percentage of all mortgaged homes for the 12 months ending in August were Alaska (0.3 percent), Minnesota (0.4 percent), Arizona (0.4 percent), Colorado (0.4 percent) and Nebraska (0.4 percent).  

“Longer term, the recent increase in household formations and rapidly improving labor market for millennials will provide a demographic tailwind to the housing market and keep demand firm,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.