Just as rivers crest in a flood and then recede, so are the homes in foreclosure across the U.S. Just 51,000 foreclosures were completed in September 2013, according to CoreLogic’s latest National Foreclosure Report, down 39 percent compared to September 2012. Less than 2.1 million U.S. homes were seriously delinquent (mortgage payments 90 days or more past due), the fewest since December 2008. In contrast, before the bubble burst in 2007, from 2000 through 2006 the U.S. was running at 21,000 completed foreclosures per month.
Since September 2008, an estimated 4.6 million foreclosures have been completed, an average of 77,000 per month. In 2008, 3.157 million foreclosures were filed (not all result in a foreclosure), which climbed to 3.957 million in 2009, dipped to 3.825 million in 2010, declined to 1.889 million in 2011 (remember the impact of the 2010 robo-signing and resulting states attorneys generals suites against lenders), and fell to1.836 million in 2012. The top and bottom five states in the number of completed foreclosures are shown in the following table.
The national foreclosure inventory fell 33 percent year-over-year in September, and was down 3.3 percent sequentially from August. September’s foreclosure inventory was 448,000 homes fewer than one-year ago, and has declined 23 consecutive months. The following table details the top and bottom five states showing foreclosure inventory as a percent of all homes with a mortgage.
In their monthly report, CoreLogic breaks out judicial foreclosure states (where foreclosures are processed through the court system) and non-judicial foreclosure states (no required court intervention in the foreclosure process). Data include the level of foreclosure inventory, percent change from the prior year, number of foreclosures completed in the prior 12 months and the percentage of homes that are seriously delinquent. In addition to national and states data, 15 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) are reported.
CoreLogic is a leading provider of property information, analytics and services with a $3.1 billion market cap. They monthly release a report summarizing foreclosures and distressed real estate. To download a copy of CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report click http://www.corelogic.com/about-us/researchtrends/national-foreclosure-report.aspx?WT.mc_id=crlg_131031_QEPzO
Many states continue to improve, as those with rising property values see fewer homeowners underwater each month.
While the ‘flood waters’ of distressed real estate are still not back to normal, we no longer are putting even-more sand bags along the banks of the river.
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