Home foreclosures decline substantially nationwide

July foreclosure inventory rate lowest since 2007

Nationwide, completed home foreclosures declined 16.5 percent in July 2016 compared to a year ago and 71.2 percent from the peak of 118,009 in September 2010, according to global property information and analytics provider CoreLogic.

In July 2016, there are 34,000 completed foreclosures compared 41,000 in July 2015.

CoreLogic’s July 2016 National Foreclosure Reports also reveals the foreclosure inventory has also declined by 29.1 percent year over year.

The foreclosure inventory represents the number of homes at some stage of the foreclosure process. Completed foreclosures reflect the total number of homes lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 6.4 million completed foreclosures nationally, and since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, there have been approximately 8.5 million homes lost to foreclosure.

As of July 2016, the national foreclosure inventory included approximately 355,000, or 0.9 percent, of all homes with a mortgage compared with 501,000 homes, or 1.3 percent, in July 2015. The July 2016 foreclosure inventory rate is the lowest for any month since August 2007. 

Twenty-nine states have foreclosure inventory rates lower than the national average, including New Hampshire at 0.5 percent. From July 2015 to July 2016, home foreclosures declined 27.7 percent, with 1,475 homes foreclosing in New Hampshire during that time period. 

CoreLogic also reports that the number of mortgages in serious delinquency (defined as 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 17.3 percent from July 2015 to July 2016, with 1.1 million mortgages, or 2.9 percent, in this category. The decline was geographically broad, with declines in 47 states and the District of Columbia. New Hampshire’s delinquency rate is among the lowest, at 1.8 percent.

"Loan modifications, foreclosures and stronger housing and labor markets have each played a role in bringing the foreclosure rate to the lowest level in nine years," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "The U.S. Treasury's Making Home Affordable program has contributed to the decline through permanent modifications, forbearance and foreclosure alternatives which have assisted 2.5 million homeowners with first mortgages at risk of foreclosure since 2009."

"Foreclosure rates declined year over year in all states except North Dakota, which experienced a 6 percent increase in its foreclosure inventory related to the drop in energy-related jobs," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "Importantly, judicial states like New Jersey and New York have continued to work through their large inventory of homes in foreclosure proceedings."