Completed foreclosures and delinquencies dropped through the first quarter of 2012 compared to last year, according to figures released by CoreLogic.
The Santa Ana, Calif.-based analytic provider said there were 69,000 completed foreclosures in March this year, compared to 85,000 in March 2011 and 66,000 in February 2012.
Through the first quarter, 198,000 foreclosures have been completed. During the same time period last year, 232,000 foreclosures were finalized.
The five states with the largest number of completed foreclosures over the last 12 months were California (150,000), Florida (92,000), Michigan (62,000), Arizona (58,000) and Texas (57,000). This group accounted for 49.1% of all completed foreclosures throughout the country.
Approximately 1.4 million homes, or 3.4% of all homes with a mortgage, were in the national foreclosure inventory as of March 2012.
There was also a 100,000 year-over-year decrease in the number of loans in the foreclosure inventory, CoreLogic said.
“Compared to a year ago, the number of completed foreclosures has slowed,” said Anand Nallathambi, CEO of CoreLogic. “Since the foreclosure inventory is also coming down, this suggests that loan modifications, short sales and deeds-in-lieu are increasingly being used as an alternative to foreclosures to clear distressed assets in our communities. This is what was envisioned with the recent national foreclosure settlement and can often be a better outcome for both borrowers and investors.”
The number of borrowers 90 or more days late on their mortgage payment, including homes in foreclosure and REO assets, fell to 7% in March 2012 compared to 7.5% a year ago. However, the delinquency rate remained unchanged from last month.
“The overall delinquency level was unchanged in March, remaining at its lowest point since July 2009,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Nonjudicial foreclosure markets like Nevada, Arizona and California are experiencing significant improvements in their shares of delinquent borrowers. Some judicial foreclosure states are also improving, like Florida, but not to the extent of nonjudicial markets.”
