Foreclosure inventory and completed foreclosures declined drastically during June, real estate analytics firm CoreLogic found in its monthly survey.
Foreclosure inventory declined 28.9% on a year-over-year basis in June to 472,000 homes. Completed foreclosures also declined year-over-year, down 14.8% to 43,000. Likewise, the number of homes in "serious delinquency," which the firm defined as 90 days or more past due on mortgage payments, declined 23.3%.
"The foreclosure rate for the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level since 2007, supported by a continuing decline in loans made before 2009, gains in employment and higher housing prices," said CoreLogic chief economist Frank Nothaft in a release.
"The decline has not been uniform geographically, as the foreclosure rate varies across metropolitan areas,” he said, adding that Tampa, Fla., and Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York have seen increased foreclosure rates.
"Serious delinquency is at the lowest level in seven and a half years reflecting the benefits of slow but steady improvements in the economy and rising home prices," said CoreLogic president and chief executive Anand Nallathambi in the release. "We are also seeing the positive impact of more stringent underwriting criteria for loans originated since 2009 which has helped to lower the national seriously delinquent rate."
