CoreLogic: September Foreclosures up 5% But Down From Year Ago

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., reported completed mortgage foreclosures increased by 5.2 percent to 36,000 in September from the 34,000 in August, but fell by 7 percent from a year ago.

The company’s monthly National Foreclosure Report said by comparison, September foreclosures fell by nearly 70 percent from the nationwide peak in September 2010 (118,222). Before the Great Recession, foreclosure averaged 21,000 per month.

The report also noted the national foreclosure inventory fell to 340,000 homes, or 0.9 percent of all homes with a mortgage, compared to 493,000 homes (1.3 percent) from a year ago, a drop of 31.1 percent.

CoreLogic said since the financial crisis began in September 2008, 6.4 million completed foreclosures took place nationally; since homeownership rates peaked in second quarter 2004, 8.5 million homes were lost to foreclosure.

CoreLogic also reported the number of mortgages in serious delinquency (defined as 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 24.8 percent from a year ago, with 1 million mortgages, or 2.6 percent, in serious delinquency, the lowest level since August 2007. The decline was geographically broad with decreases in serious delinquency in 48 states and the District of Columbia.

“September’s serious delinquency rate dropped by 25 percent compared to a year earlier, the third consecutive monthly acceleration in the rate of decline,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “This improvement is continued evidence of the recovery in the housing market, especially given that the decreases were fairly uniform in most cities across the country.”

Other report highlights:
–Month-over-month, the September foreclosure inventory fell by 3.1 percent from August.

–States with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in September were Florida (53,000), Texas (27,000), Michigan (24,000), Ohio (23,000) and Georgia (21,000).These five states accounted for 36 percent of completed foreclosures nationally.

–States with the lowest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in September: the District of Columbia (186), North Dakota (338), West Virginia (447), Alaska (643) and Montana (701).

–States with the highest foreclosure inventory rate in September: New Jersey (3.0 percent), New York (2.7 percent), Maine (1.8 percent), Hawaii (1.8 percent) and the District of Columbia (1.6 percent).

–States with the lowest foreclosure inventory rate in September were Colorado (0.3 percent), Minnesota (0.3 percent), Arizona (0.3 percent), Michigan (0.3 percent) and Utah (0.3).

“The decline in foreclosures is one of the drivers in the drop in vacancies, which is positive for homeowners and communities,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Heading into 2017 we see that prices, performance and production–the three most important drivers of the real estate market–are all improving.”