Trendsetters, take note: The numbers show 2015 is the new 2007, at least when it comes to foreclosure rates.
According to CoreLogic’s November National Foreclosure Report, improved economic conditions and a decline in national unemployment levels have helped pushed the foreclosure rate to its lowest record in about eight years.
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The report offers home foreclosure statistics for the month of October, when only 1.2 percent of all homes were in some stage of foreclosure. In the same month last year, the foreclosure rate stood at 1.5 percent.
About 463,000 homes were in some stage of foreclosure this October — a 21.5-percent decrease over the 589,000 homes in foreclosure one year earlier — marking it as the 48th consecutive month that CoreLogic has reported a year-over-year foreclosure decline. Month over month, the foreclosure inventory decreased 1.5 percent from September to October.
Nationally, completed foreclosures fell about 27 percent from 51,000 in October 2014 to 37,000 in October of this year. Completed foreclosures fell 12.3 percent from September to October alone.
By comparison, prior to the housing market crash in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month, CoreLogic said.
Varying rates by state
Although 29 states have a foreclosure rate that dips below the national level, some states reported having less than 1 percent of all mortgages in foreclosure, including Alaska, Arizona, Minnesota, North Dakota and Colorado. In addition, 40 states posted a double-digit, year-over-year decline in foreclosures.
“We are heading into 2016 with the lowest foreclosure inventory in eight years thanks to escalating home values and progressive improvement in the U.S. economy,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Equally encouraging is the drop in mortgage delinquency rates reflecting the stronger labor market and tighter underwriting since 2009.”
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Nallathambi noted that a large proportion of the foreclosure inventory is clustered in New York, New Jersey and Florida. The four states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of mortgaged homes were:
- New Jersey, at 4.5 percent
- New York, at 3.6 percent
- Hawaii, at 2.5 percent
- Florida, at 2.5 percent
Three states experienced increases in foreclosures: Massachusetts, which saw a 20-percent spike; Rhode Island, which saw a 3.1-percent increase; and Washington, D.C., which reported a 2.3-percent increase.
