The national foreclosure inventory is down 35% from a year ago, with approximately 648,000 homes in some stage of foreclosure, compared to 1 million a year ago, CoreLogic’s latest June National Foreclosure Report found.
The foreclosure inventory made up 1.7% of all homes with a mortgage, down from 2.5% in June 2013 and 3.9% from May 2014, marking 32 months of consecutive year-over-year declines.
But the market still has a way to go.
“While 32 straight months of year-over-year decline in the foreclosure rate is cause for celebration, the total number of homes still in the foreclosure process remains almost four times as high as the average in the early 2000s,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.
“Additionally, there is concern over whether or not we can maintain this pace of improvement as the foreclosure inventory becomes more concentrated in judicial states with lengthier, more complex processes and timelines,” Fleming said.
In June, there were 49,000 completed foreclosures nationally, falling from 54,000 in June 2013, a year-over-year decline of 9.9%.
Month-over-month, completed foreclosures climbed by 2.7% from 48,000 in May.
Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 5.1 million completed foreclosures across the country.
“The national inventory of foreclosed homes fell for the 32nd straight month to just under 650,000 in June. Most of the U.S. has reduced its shadow inventory to pre-recession levels, but the Northeast, Florida and the Pacific Northwest remain elevated,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The great news here is that the basic underpinnings of the housing market are strengthening, but there is still work to do.”
