Residential foreclosures fell in August for a fourth consecutive month, a sign that the housing recovery is gathering steam.
According to new figures compiled by CoreLogic, roughly 57,000 homes were lost to foreclosure during the month, compared to 58,000 the
At the end of August 1.3 million homes—3.2% of all properties with a mortgage—were in the national foreclosure inventory, the lowest reading since April 2010.
“The continuing downward trend in foreclosures and a gradual clearing of the shadow inventory are important signals that the recovery in housing is gaining traction,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The reduction in foreclosure volumes is to some degree being facilitated by the rising popularity of alternative resolution methods, such as short sales and loan modifications.”
Five states accounted for nearly 48% of all completed foreclosures that occurred over the last year ending in August 2012. California led the pack with 109,809, followed by Florida (91,899), Michigan (61,833), Texas (57,512) and Georgia (55,321).
States with the fewest foreclosures in this time period include: South Dakota, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, North Dakota and Maine.
Meanwhile, earlier in the week CoreLogic released its house price index, showing another gain in values, albeit small at 0.3%.
The analytics firm believes that in September prices likely will show a similar increase.
“Improving price trends over the past few months and our forecast for continued gains in September bode well for a progressive rebound in the residential housing market,” said Nallathambi.
Only six states continued to post declining
