Serious Delinquencies at Lowest Point in Nine Years: CoreLogic

The number of seriously delinquent mortgages declined 24.8% in September from one year prior, as the number of loans more than 90 days late is at its lowest since August 2007, according to CoreLogic.

"This improvement is continued evidence of the recovery in the housing market, especially given that the decreases were fairly uniform in most cities across the country," said CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft.

There are currently 1 million loans, or 2.6% of all mortgages, that are seriously delinquent. Only two states, North Dakota and Wyoming, had an increase in 90-plus-day late mortgages.

The foreclosure inventory declined by 31.1% on a year-over-year basis, while the number of completed foreclosures declined by 7%. There were 36,000 completed foreclosures in September, compared with 118,222 in the peak month of September 2010.

At the end of September, the national foreclosure inventory included approximately 340,000, or 0.9% of all homes with a mortgage, compared with 493,000 homes, or 1.3%, one year prior.

Compared with August, completed foreclosures increased by 5.2%, while the foreclosure inventory declined by 3.1%.

The states with the highest foreclosure inventory rate in September were New Jersey at 3% and New York with 2.7%.