Foreclosure Rate Declines, Economic Activity Rises

The foreclosure inventory was down 1.9 percent in December 2016, representing 62 months of consecutive year-over-year declines, according to the National Foreclosure Report released by CoreLogic on Tuesday.

The report stated that while decline in delinquencies had been realized for most of the country, there were a few states that continued to experience a high rate of foreclosures. “Serious delinquency rates rose in Louisiana, Wyoming, and North Dakota, reflecting the weakness in oil production,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic.

The report continued by stating there were only 21,000 completed foreclosures nationally in December 2016 compared to 36,000 in December 2015. Approximately 329,000 homes in the United States were in some stage of foreclosure compared to 467,000 in December 2015.  The seriously delinquent rate is at 2.6 percent, which is the lowest level since June 2007.

As of December 2016, the foreclosure inventory represented .08 percent of all homes with a mortgage, compared to 1.2 percent in December 2015.

Anand Nallathambi, President and CEO of CoreLogic, cited that foreclosure decline is attributed to a number of economic factors. “The decrease in foreclosures is powered principally by increasing employment levels, stringent underwriting standards, and higher home prices over the past few years,” he said. “We expect to see further declines in delinquency and foreclosure rates in 2017.”

Approximately 29 states have an inventory of foreclosed homes lower than the national rate, with 16 states showed declines of more than 30 percent in year-over-year foreclosures inventory. Washington (-42.1 percent) and Florida (-41.1 percent) showed the greatest year-over-year declines.

States with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of mortgaged homes include New Jersey (2.8 percent); New York (2.7 percent); Maine (1.8 percent); Hawaii (1.7 percent); and Washington, D.C. (1.6 percent).

Those states with the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of mortgaged homes include Colorado (0.2 percent), and Arizona, California, Minnesota, and Utah, all with a percentage of 0.3 percent.

Among major metropolitan areas, the foreclosure rate in New York City decreased by 27.5 percent while the Chicago area experienced a 29.1 percent decrease.

Twenty-eight non-judicial states, 22 judicial states, plus Washington, D.C. (non-judicial) posted a year-over-year double digit decline in foreclosures.