Foreclosure inventory dropped in October after last month’s increase in completed foreclosures, perhaps showing that the housing market is continuing to clear out the remaining inventory.
Foreclosure inventory decreased by 31.5% from September to October and by 24.9% from October 2015, according to the October 2016 National Foreclosure Report from CoreLogic.
“Housing and labor markets improved over the past year, setting the stage for further declines in foreclosure rates across much of the nation,” CoreLogic President and CEO Anand Nallathambi said.
“Home values posted an annual gain of 5.8% through September in the CoreLogic Home Price Index, and payroll employment rose 2.4 million for the year through October,” Nallathambi said.
Completed foreclosures decreased from 40,000 in October last year to 30,000 this year. This is a decrease of 74.7% from the peak in September 2010.
The foreclosure inventory represents the number of homes at some stage of the foreclosure process and completed foreclosures reflect the total number of homes lost to foreclosure.
In October, foreclosure inventory decreased to 0.8% of all homes with a mortgage, compared to 1.2% last year and 0.9% last month.
Mortgages in serious delinquency, those that are 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure or real estate owned, decreased by 24.8% annually. Mortgages in serious delinquency shrank to 2.5% of mortgages, its lowest level since August 2007.
"Loan performance varies by the health of the local economy and housing market,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said. “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,” Nothaft said.
