The national foreclosure rate in July was back to where it was in August 2007‒‒a little less than 1 percent overall, according to a new report from CoreLogic [1]. Moreover, foreclosures were down in July, compared to June and to a year earlier, in every state except North Dakota.
In June, the national foreclosure rate was 1.3 percent. By July, CoreLogic reported, that number had shrunk to 0.9 percent. Compared to July 2015, foreclosures are down almost 30 percent, from a total 501,000 homes to 355,000.
There were 34,000 foreclosures in July. That’s down from 41,000 a year ago, about 16.5 percent, and 4 percent down from June.
CoreLogic president and CEO Anand Nallathambi said the foreclosure rate was down everywhere but North Dakota, which saw a 6-percent uptick. Nallathambi attributed the rise in foreclosures with the state’s sharp drop in energy-related jobs.
Back east, the drop in foreclosures is slow, but successful. “Judicial states like New Jersey and New York have continued to work through their large inventory of homes in foreclosure proceedings,” he said.
New Jersey and New York still had the highest rates of delinquency overall in July, each at 3.3 percent. Hawaii, Maine, and the District of Columbia each had a rate of 1.8 percent. Florida had the most completed foreclosures between July 2015 and July 2016, with 57,000. It, along with Michigan, Texas, Ohio, and California, contributed to 40 percent of the national foreclosure numbers over the year.
Along with the overall drop in foreclosures nationally, the number of homes in serious stages of delinquency was also down. Compared to June, there was a miniscule drop, from 1,156 to 1,150 homes in advanced delinquency. But compared to a year ago, the number of these properties is down 3 percent.
Twenty-nine states have a delinquency rate lower than the national average, CoreLogic reported. Colorado, Minnesota, Utah, Alaska, and Arizona tied for the lowest delinquency rates, at 0.3.
Also, 19 states show declines in delinquency of more than 30 percent. Minnesota and Nevada were both above 39 percent.
“Loan modifications, foreclosures, and strong housing and labor markets have each played a role in bringing the foreclosure rate to the lowest level in nine years,” said CoreLogic chief economist Frank Nothaft.