Bank repossessions of foreclosed homes have fallen back to
pre-recession levels, the real estate analytical firm CoreLogic is
reporting.
A total of 60,000 U.S. foreclosures were completed in June, a
rate comparable to the pace of completed foreclosures in 2007,
according to the monthly CoreLogic National Foreclosure Report. The
figure represents a 25 percent annual decline from the June 2011
figure of 80,000 homes lost to foreclosure.
CoreLogic President and CEO Anand Nallthambi called the report
"welcome news pointing to an emerging housing market recovery."
Foreclosure inventory down 100,000
Fewer homes have also entered the foreclosure process over the
last year, with the result that the foreclosure inventory - the
total number of mortgaged homes in the foreclosure process - has
fallen to 1.4 million, down from 1.5 million in June 2011. The
current figure represents 3.4 percent of all mortgaged homes.
However, that figure could rise again in the coming months,
according to Mark Fleming, CoreLogic chief economist, who noted
that sales of foreclosed homes have been slowing over the past two
months.
The rate of completed foreclosures actually held steady in June,
according to today's report. The May rate of bank repossessions was
revised downward to 60,000 units, identical to the current figure,
down from 63,000 originally reported last month.
States with highest, lowest foreclosure tallies
Five states accounted for nearly half of all the homes lost to
foreclosure over the past year, with California (125,000),
Florida(91,000), Michigan(58,000), Texas (56,000) and Georgia
(55,000) making up 48.5 percent of the total.
The states with the highest rates of homes in foreclosure, as a
share of all mortgaged homes, were Florida (11.5 percent), New
Jersey (6.5 percent), New York (5.1 percent), Illinois (5.0
percent) and Nevada (4.8 percent).
The states with the fewest homes lost to foreclosure over the
past 12 months were South Dakota (39), District of Columbia (81),
Hawaii (449), North Dakota (565), and Maine (625). The states with
the lowest foreclosure rates were Wyoming (0.6 percent), Alaska
(0.8 percent), North Dakota (0.8 percent), Nebraska (0.9 percent)
and South Dakota (1.2 percent).
First published on MortgageLoan.com at:
http://www.mortgageloan.com/foreclosures-back-2007-levels-9188