U.S. Foreclosure Inventory Down 29.1 Percent Annually in July

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34,000 Completed U.S. Foreclosures in July 2016

According to CoreLogic's July 2016 National Foreclosure Report, U.S. foreclosure inventory declined by 29.1 percent and completed foreclosures declined by 16.5 percent compared with July 2015.

The number of completed foreclosures nationwide decreased year over year from 41,000 in July 2015 to 34,000 in July 2016, representing a decrease of 71.2 percent from the peak of 118,009 in September 2010.

The foreclosure inventory represents the number of homes at some stage of the foreclosure process and completed foreclosures reflect the total number of homes lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 6.4 million completed foreclosures nationally, and since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, there have been approximately 8.5 million homes lost to foreclosure.

As of July 2016, the national foreclosure inventory included approximately 355,000, or 0.9 percent, of all homes with a mortgage compared with 501,000 homes, or 1.3 percent, in July 2015. The July 2016 foreclosure inventory rate is the lowest for any month since August 2007.

CoreLogic also reports that the number of mortgages in serious delinquency (defined as 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 17.3 percent from July 2015 to July 2016, with 1.1 million mortgages, or 2.9 percent, in this category. The decline was geographically broad, with declines in 47 states and the District of Columbia.

"Loan modifications, foreclosures and stronger housing and labor markets have each played a role in bringing the foreclosure rate to the lowest level in nine years," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "The U.S. Treasury's Making Home Affordable program has contributed to the decline through permanent modifications, forbearance and foreclosure alternatives which have assisted 2.5 million homeowners with first mortgages at risk of foreclosure since 2009."

"Foreclosure rates declined year over year in all states except North Dakota, which experienced a 6 percent increase in its foreclosure inventory related to the drop in energy-related jobs," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "Importantly, judicial states like New Jersey and New York have continued to work through their large inventory of homes in foreclosure proceedings."

Additional July 2016 highlights include:

• On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures decreased by 6.8 percent to 34,000 in July 2016 from the 36,000 reported for June 2016. 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.

• On a month-over-month basis, the foreclosure inventory was down 3.9 percent compared with June 2016.

• The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in July 2016 were Florida (57,000), Michigan (45,000), Texas (27,000), Ohio (23,000) and California (21,000). These five states account for almost 40 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.

• Four states and the District of Columbia had the lowest number of completed foreclosures: The District of Columbia (207), North Dakota (324), West Virginia (488), Alaska (635) and Montana (700).

• Four states and the District of Columbia had the highest foreclosure inventory rate: New Jersey (3.3 percent), New York (3 percent), Hawaii (1.8 percent), Maine (1.8 percent) and the District of Columbia (1.8 percent).

• The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory rate were Colorado (0.3 percent), Minnesota (0.3 percent), Utah (0.3 percent), Arizona (0.3 percent) and Alaska (0.3 percent).