The total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure fell in August compared to last year, according to data released by CoreLogic.
For the entire month of August, there were 48,000 completed foreclosures, down from 72,000 during the same month last year. This is a year-over-year decrease of 34%.
However,
The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in August 2013 were Florida (111,000), Michigan (60,000), California (58,000), Texas (43,000) and Georgia (40,000). Overall, these five states accounted for about half of all the finalized foreclosures nationwide.
Meanwhile, through the end of August, approximately 939,000 housing units were in some stage of foreclosure compared to 1.4 million a year ago, which is a 33% drop. The foreclosure inventory currently represents 2.4% of all homes with a mortgage.
At 7.9%, Florida has the most mortgaged homes that account for the state’s foreclosure inventory, followed by New Jersey at 6.2%, New York at 4.9%, Maine at 4% and Connecticut at 3.9%, round out the top five list.
“The foreclosure inventory continues to improve, as exhibited by these recent numbers,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “A surge in completed foreclosures and a rise in the foreclosure inventory is unlikely given continued house price improvements and shortages of supply in many markets.”
Additionally, the Irvine, Calif.-based analytic firm said shadow inventory has fallen to its lowest level in five years. As of July 2013, the pending supply was 1.9 million homes, a 3.7-month supply or 85% of the 2.2 million properties that were seriously delinquent, in foreclosure or REO.
CoreLogic said the current shadow inventory volume of homes account for $293 billion. The firm estimates the stock of properties in the shadow inventory by calculating the number of properties that are seriously delinquent, in foreclosure or held as REO by mortgage servicers, but not currently listen on multiple listing services.
“Over the past year, the value of the U.S. shadow inventory dropped by $87 billion—a sign of increased normalcy in the housing market,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “With a year-over-year decrease of 22% in July, the shadow inventory has now declined steadily for 10 consecutive months.”
