CoreLogic: 58,000 Homes Lost to Foreclosure in October

There were 58,000 foreclosures completed in the United States during the month of October, ""CoreLogic"":http://www.corelogic.com reported Monday with the release of its latest ""National Foreclosure Report"":http://www.corelogic.com/about-us/researchtrends/national-foreclosure-report.aspx?WT.mc_id=A038%20%20Foreclosure%20Report_crlg_121203_0gAq3&elq=e326f815715d4366aad6442b956e6174. October's tally was down 17 percent from last year when 70,000 foreclosures were completed during the month.

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On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures fell 25 percent. CoreLogic says September's foreclosure count was revised upward to 77,000 from the previously reported 57,000. While revisions are pretty standard, the company says September's adjustment was larger than usual because of Wayne County, Michigan's annual online auction of delinquent tax properties, which wasn't reported when September data was previously released. Excluding Wayne County's foreclosures, there were 56,000 completed foreclosures nationwide during September, according to CoreLogic's calculations.

As a basis of comparison, CoreLogic says completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month between 2000 and 2006, prior to the housing market's downward spiral. Completed foreclosures indicate the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, CoreLogic reports there have been approximately 3.9 million completed foreclosures across the country.

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Approximately 1.3 million homes, or 3.2 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were in the national foreclosure inventory as of October 2012 compared to 1.5 million, or 3.6 percent, in October 2011. Month-over-month, the national foreclosure inventory dropped 1.3 percent between September and October of this year.

The foreclosure inventory is the share of all mortgaged homes that are currently in the foreclosure process. The national foreclosure inventory has declined by 9 percent year-to-date--a development Mark Fleming, CoreLogic's chief economist attributed to both completed foreclosures and alternative disposition methods. Fleming described the steady decline as ""good news"" for local markets as we get ready to close the books on 2012 and look forward to 2013.

""A lower foreclosure inventory is a good indicator of improving housing markets,"" commented Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. ""The downward trend in foreclosure inventories over the past year is yet another signal that a recovery in housing is gaining traction.""

CoreLogic's data show the five states with the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in October are: South Dakota (19), the District of Columbia (64), Hawaii (452), North Dakota (511), and Maine (643).

The five states with the most completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in October include: California (105,000), Florida (95,000), Michigan (68,000), Texas (59,000), and Georgia (54,000). According to CoreLogic, these five states account for 49 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.

Among the five states with the highest foreclosure inventories--or the biggest share of mortgaged homes in the foreclosure process--are: Florida (11.1 percent), New Jersey (7.7 percent), New York (5.3 percent), Illinois (5.0 percent), and Nevada (4.8 percent).

States with the lowest foreclosure inventory include: Wyoming (0.5 percent), Alaska (0.7 percent), North Dakota (0.7 percent), Nebraska (0.8 percent), and South Dakota (1.0 percent).