A new report from CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a global property research and data provider, shows 46,000 foreclosures were completed nationally in April, down 18 percent from 56,000 a year ago. CoreLogic’s April National Foreclosure Report, which provides data on completed U.S. foreclosures and foreclosure inventory, also showed that on a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures fell […]
A new report from CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a global property research and data provider, shows 46,000 foreclosures were completed nationally in April, down 18 percent from 56,000 a year ago.
CoreLogic’s April National Foreclosure Report, which provides data on completed U.S. foreclosures and foreclosure inventory, also showed that on a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures fell 0.4 percent from the 47,000 reported in March 2014.
Despite the decline, foreclosure activity is still running much higher than before the collapse of the housing market in 2007-2008. Completed foreclosures averaged just 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006, according to CoreLogic.
Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in 2008, about 5 million foreclosures have been completed across the country, the research firm says.
As of April 2014, about 694,000 homes in the U.S. were in some stage of foreclosure, known as the foreclosure inventory, compared to 1.1 million in April 2013, a decline of 35 percent. The foreclosure inventory as of April represented 1.8 percent of all homes with a mortgage, compared to 2.7 percent in April 2013. The foreclosure inventory was down 4.7 percent from March 2014, marking the 30th month of year-over-year declines, CoreLogic reports.
“Over the last 12 months, completed foreclosures fell to 599,000, the lowest level since the Great Recession began in 2007,” Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic, said in a news release. “At the current pace of completed foreclosures, and given the current foreclosure inventory, it will take 14 months to move all of the foreclosed inventory through the pipeline.”
“We have now registered two and a half years of continuous decreases in the number of homeowners who are in some stage of the foreclosure process. This consistent decline means fewer Americans are experiencing the distress of delinquency and default,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The recovery may be slow, but it is steady.”
April 2014 report highlights
Every state, except for New York (and the District of Columbia), posted double-digit year-over-year declines in foreclosures, CoreLogic reports.
Thirty-seven states show declines in year-over-year foreclosure inventory of greater than 30 percent with Arizona, Utah, Minnesota and California and posting declines greater than 50 percent.
The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in April 2014 were: Florida (121,000), Michigan (46,000), Texas (38,000), California (33,000), and Georgia (32,000).These five states account for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally, according to CoreLogic.
The five states (including the District of Columbia) with the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in April 2014 were: D.C. (68), North Dakota (352), West Virginia (517), Wyoming (718) and Alaska (844).
The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: New Jersey (6.0 percent), Florida (5.4 percent), New York (4.6 percent), Hawaii (3.1 percent), and Maine (3.0 percent), CoreLogic reports.
The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Alaska (0.4 percent), Wyoming (0.4 percent), North Dakota (0.5 percent), Nebraska (0.5 percent), and Minnesota (0.5 percent).