US Foreclosure Activity and Inventory Fall

---

The number of completed foreclosures in the U.S. decreased 20 percent in June from the same time last year, according to the latest data from CoreLogic.

The data also showed positive signs for the foreclosure inventory in the U.S. In June, there were about one million homes in some stage of foreclosure, a 28 percent decrease from a year ago. A record decrease in June's foreclosure inventory was also reported by RealtyTrac.

"So far this year, distressed inventories have fallen dramatically, down 14.4 percent, and serious delinquencies are down 15.9 percent," Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in the release.

There were 68,000 foreclosures in June, a 2.5 percent increase from the previous month. In comparison, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006. 

"The improvement is broad-based, with 49 states posting a year-over-year decline in foreclosure rates in June," Anand Nallathambi, president of CoreLogic, said in the release. "The housing market is clearly on the mend, but we expect the ultimate conclusion of the present housing down cycle to be another several years away."

The June foreclosure inventory represented 2.5 percent of all mortgaged homes, compared to 3.4 percent last year, the firm said. 

Highlights as of June 2013:

• The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in June 2013 were: Florida (107,000), California (72,000), Michigan (63,000), Texas (48,000) and Georgia (44,000). These five states account for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.

• The five states with the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in June 2013 were: District of Columbia (106), Hawaii (397), North Dakota (481), West Virginia (534) and Maine (692).

• The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Florida (8.6 percent), New Jersey (6.0 percent), New York (4.8 percent), Connecticut (4.2 percent) and Maine (4.1 percent).

• The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Wyoming (0.5 percent), Alaska (0.6 percent), North Dakota (0.7 percent), Nebraska (0.7 percent) and Colorado (0.8 percent).