Completed foreclosures saw a huge decrease in October, dropping to about 30,000 compared with about 41,000 reported for September, according to CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report.
That’s a decrease of 27.5%.
What’s more, it is a decrease of 74.7% from the peak of 118,287 completed foreclosures in September 2010.
States with the highest numbers of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ended in October were Florida (51,000), Michigan (29,000), Texas (26,000), Ohio (23,000) and Georgia (20,000). These five states accounted for 36% of completed foreclosures nationally.
States with the lowest numbers of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ended in October included the District of Columbia (212), North Dakota (278), West Virginia (407), Alaska (622) and Montana (660).
As of the end of October, the national foreclosure inventory stood at about 328,000 residential properties, or 0.8% of all homes with a mortgage, compared with 479,000 homes, or 1.2%, in October 2015.
That’s a decrease of 3.6% compared with September and a decrease of 31.5% compared with October 2015.
About 1 million mortgages, or 2.5%, were in serious delinquency (90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure or bank-owned) as of the end of the month – the lowest level since August 2007.
That’s a decrease of 24.8% compared with October 2015.
CoreLogic emphasizes that the rate of foreclosure can vary considerably from community to community.
“Loan performance varies by the health of the local economy and housing market,” explains Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming, three states with energy-related job loss, experienced a rise in serious delinquency rates, while all other states had a decline. Although there were large declines in foreclosure rates in New York and New Jersey, both states experienced the highest serious delinquency rates in the nation, reflecting lagging home values in most neighborhoods and an unemployment rate above the national average.”
“Housing and labor markets improved over the past year, setting the stage for further declines in foreclosure rates across much of the nation,” adds Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Home values posted an annual gain of 5.8 percent through September in the CoreLogic Home Price Index, and payroll employment rose 2.4 million for the year through October.”
