CoreLogic: Foreclosures, Inventory Continue to Drop
CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said completed foreclosures in November fell to 26,000 and the foreclosure inventory fell by 30 percent from a year ago and by nearly 80 percent from its crisis peak.
The company’s monthly National Foreclosure Report said November foreclosures fell by 14.1 from October (30,000) and fell by nearly 26 percent from a year ago (35,000). From the crisis peak in September 2010 (118,339), monthly foreclosures have fallen by 78.2 percent; by comparison, before the housing crisis foreclosures averaged 22,000 per month.
CoreLogic reported the national foreclosure inventory at 325,000, or 0.8 percent, of all homes with a mortgage in November, compared to 465,000 homes, or 1.2 percent, a year ago. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, 6.5 million completed foreclosures have taken place nationally; since homeownership rates peaked in second quarter 2004, 8.6 million homes were lost to foreclosure.
CoreLogic also reported the number of mortgages in serious delinquency declined by 22.1 percent over the past year, with one million mortgages, or 2.5 percent, in serious delinquency, the lowest level since August 2007. The decline was geographically broad with year-over-year decreases in serious delinquency in 48 states and the District of Columbia.
“The decline in serious delinquency has been substantial, but the default rate remains high in select markets,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic.
CoreLogic reported serious delinquency rates were the highest in New Jersey and New York at 5.6 percent and 5 percent, respectively. In contrast, the lowest delinquency rate occurred in Colorado at 0.9 percent, where a strong job market and home-price growth have enabled more homeowners to stay current.
Other report highlighys:
–On a month-over-month basis, the November foreclosure inventory fell 2.4 percent from October.
–States with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in November were Florida (48,000), Michigan (31,000), Texas (25,000), Ohio (22,000) and Georgia (20,000).These five states account for 36 percent of completed foreclosures nationally.
–States with the lowest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in November: the District of Columbia (221), North Dakota (260), West Virginia (375), Alaska (616) and Montana (627).
–States with the highest foreclosure inventory rate in November: New Jersey (2.8 percent), New York (2.6 percent), Maine (1.7 percent), Hawaii (1.7 percent) and the District of Columbia (1.6 percent).
–States with the lowest foreclosure inventory rate in November were Colorado (0.2 percent), Minnesota (0.3 percent), Arizona (0.3 percent), Utah (0.3 percent) and California (0.3 percent).
“Sustained growth in home prices is clearly bolstering homeowners’ spending power and balance sheets and, as a result, spurring a continued drop in defaults,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic.
