A shift in foreclosures
CoreLogic released its first national Foreclosure Report which provides monthly data on completed foreclosures, foreclosure inventory and 90+ delinquency rates, reporting that completed foreclosures for all of 2011 totaled 830,000 compared with 1.1 million in 2010. CoreLogic notes that since September 2008, there have been approximately 3.2 million completed foreclosures.
Completed foreclosures fell from November (57,000) to December 2011 (55,000), also representing a 24 percent drop from December 2010. The share of borrowers nationally that were 90 days or more delinquent on their mortgage payments, classified as seriously delinquent, improved to 7.3 percent in December 2011 compared to 7.8 percent in December 2010.
The new data from CoreLogic also shows that nationally 1.4 million homes, or 3.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were in the foreclosure inventory as of December 2011. Nationally, the number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased 8.4 percent in December 2011 compared to December 2010, a drop of 130,000 properties nationwide.
According to CoreLogic, servicers processed distressed assets faster in December. “The inventory of foreclosed properties has begun to shrink, and the pace at which properties are entering foreclosure is slowing. While foreclosure filings are being curtailed by a variety of judicial and regulatory constraints, mortgage servicers are completing REO sales faster than they are completing foreclosures,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. “This is the first time in a year that REO sales have outpaced completed foreclosures, and part of the reason for the decrease in the foreclosure inventory.”
Regional performance
The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory are Florida (11.9 percent), New Jersey (6.4 percent), Illinois (5.4 percent), Nevada (5.3 percent) and New York (4.6 percent). The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory were: Wyoming (0.7 percent), Alaska (0.8 percent), North Dakota (0.8 percent), Nebraska (1.0 percent) and Washington (1.3 percent).
Of the top 100 markets, measured by Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) population, 34 are showing an increase in the foreclosure inventory in December 2011 compared to a year ago, an improvement from November 2011 when 46 of the top CBSAs were showing an increase in the foreclosure inventory compared to a year ago.
