Seriously Delinquent Mortgages at Lowest Level in 8 Years in U.S.

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According to CoreLogic's May 2015 National Foreclosure Report, the foreclosure inventory declined by 27.4 percent and completed foreclosures declined by 19.2 percent from May 2014. The number of foreclosures nationwide decreased year over year from 51,000 in May 2014 to 41,000 in May 2015, representing a decrease of 64.9 percent from the peak of completed foreclosures in September 2010, according to CoreLogic data.

Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 5.7 million completed foreclosures across the country, and since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, there have been approximately 7.8 million homes lost to foreclosure.

As of May 2015, the national foreclosure inventory included approximately 491,000, or 1.3 percent, of all homes with a mortgage compared with 676,000 homes, or 1.7 percent, in May 2014. This is the lowest foreclosure rate since December 2007.

CoreLogic also reports that the number of mortgages in serious delinquency (defined as 90 days or more past due, including those loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 22.7 percent from May 2014 to May 2015, with 1.3 million mortgages, or 3.5 percent, falling into this category. This is the lowest serious delinquency rate since January 2008. On a month-over-month basis, the number of seriously delinquent mortgages declined by 3.4 percent.

"With three million jobs created during the past year, the improving labor market has helped more borrowers stay current on their mortgage loan," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "Because fewer loans are becoming seriously delinquent, the foreclosure inventory has come down to its lowest level in more than seven years, with only 1.3 percent of loans in foreclosure proceedings."

"While the nation's seriously delinquent rate--3.5 percent--is at its lowest level since January 2008, it remains very high in several big markets," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "The greater New York City region and central Florida continue to have some of the highest serious delinquency rates, almost doubling the national level. Default rates remain elevated in the Chicago and Baltimore metro areas as well."

Additional highlights as of May 2015:

• On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures increased by 4.1 percent from the 39,000* reported in April 2015. As a basis of comparison, before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006.

• The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in May 2015 were: Florida (104,000), Michigan (46,000), Texas (33,000), California (28,000) and Ohio (27,000). These five states accounted for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.

• Four states and the District of Columbia had the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in May 2015: South Dakota (19), District of Columbia (105), North Dakota (326), Wyoming (498) and West Virginia (500).

• Four states and the District of Columbia had the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes: New Jersey (4.9 percent), New York (3.7 percent), Florida (2.9 percent), Hawaii (2.5 percent) and District of Columbia (2.4 percent).

• The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Alaska (0.3 percent), Colorado (0.4 percent), Minnesota (0.4 percent), Nebraska (0.4 percent) and North Dakota (0.4 percent).