November saw yet another annual decline in foreclosure inventory, according to the November 2016 National Foreclosure Report from CoreLogic.
Once again, foreclosure inventory declined 30% annually in November, and completed foreclosures decreased by 25.9% from November 2015, according to the report. Since November of 2015, foreclosures dropped from 35,000 to 26,000. This represents a decrease of 78.2% from September 2010’s peak of 118,339 foreclosures.
The foreclosure inventory represents the number of homes at some stage of the foreclosure process while completed foreclosures reflect the total number of homes lost to foreclosure.
In November, foreclosure inventory included 325,000 homes or 0.8% of all homes with a mortgage. This is down from November 2015’s 1.2%.
The number of mortgages in serious delinquency, 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure or real estate owned, also saw a significant decline of 22.1% annually in November. About 1 million mortgages, or 2.5%, were in serious delinquency in November, the lowest number since August 2007.
However, this should come as no surprise since more Americans are working therefore more mortgages are getting paid with regularity.
And the decline was felt in every part of the nation as 48 states and the District of Columbia all saw decreases in serious delinquency.
“The decline in serious delinquency has been substantial, but the default rate remains high in select markets,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said. “Serious delinquency rates were the highest in New Jersey and New York at 5.6% and 5%, respectively.”
“In contrast, the lowest delinquency rate occurred in Colorado at 0.9% where a strong job market and home-price growth have enabled more homeowners to stay current,” Nothaft said.
When it comes to completed foreclosures, the state with the highest amount for the 12 months ending in November was Florida with 48,000, followed by Michigan with 31,000, Texas with 25,000, Ohio with 22,000 and Georgia with 20,000.
On the other hand, the state with the lowest number of completed foreclosures was the District of Columbia with 221, followed by North Dakota with 260, West Virginia with 375, Alaska with 616 and Montana with 627.
“The 7% appreciation in home prices through November 2016 has added an average of $12,500 in home-equity wealth per homeowner across the U.S. during the last year," CoreLogic President and CEO Anand Nallathambi said. “Sustained growth in home prices is clearly bolstering homeowners' spending power and balance sheets and, as a result, spurring a continued drop in defaults.”
