IRVINE, Calif.—The foreclosure inventory declined by 30% and completed foreclosures declined by 25.9% compared with November 2015, according to the November 2016 National Foreclosure Report from CoreLogic.
In addition, the data show the number of completed foreclosures nationwide decreased year over year from 35,000 in November 2015 to 26,000 in November 2016, representing a decrease of 78.2% from the peak of 118,339 in September 2010.
The foreclosure inventory represents the number of homes at some stage of the foreclosure process and completed foreclosures reflect the total number of homes lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 6.5 million completed foreclosures nationally, and since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, there have been approximately 8.6 million homes lost to foreclosure.
As of November 2016, the national foreclosure inventory included approximately 325,000, or 0.8%, of all homes with a mortgage, compared with 465,000 homes, or 1.2%, in November 2015.
CoreLogic also reported that the number of mortgages in serious delinquency (defined as 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 22.1% from November 2015 to November 2016, with one-million mortgages, or 2.5%, in serious delinquency, the lowest level since August 2007. The decline was geographically broad with year-over-year decreases in serious delinquency in 48 states and the District of Columbia.
“The decline in serious delinquency has been substantial, but the default rate remains high in select markets,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a statement. “Serious delinquency rates were the highest in New Jersey and New York at 5.6% and 5%, respectively. In contrast, the lowest delinquency rate occurred in Colorado at 0.9% where a strong job market and home-price growth have enabled more homeowners to stay current.”
“The 7% appreciation in home prices through November 2016 has added an average of $12,500 in home equity wealth per homeowner across the U.S. during the last year,” added Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Sustained growth in home prices is clearly bolstering homeowners’ spending power and balance sheets and, as a result, spurring a continued drop in defaults.”
Additional November 2016 highlights from the CoreLogic report:
- On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures declined by 14.1% to 26,000 in November 2016 from the 30,000 reported for October 2016. As a basis of comparison, before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged about 22,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006.
- On a month-over-month basis, the November 2016 foreclosure inventory fell 2.4% compared with October 2016.
- The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in November 2016 were Florida (48,000), Michigan (31,000), Texas (25,000), Ohio (22,000) and Georgia (20,000). These five states account for 36% of completed foreclosures nationally.
- Four states and the District of Columbia had the lowest number of completed foreclosures in the 12 months ending in November 2016: the District of Columbia (221), North Dakota (260), West Virginia (375), Alaska (616) and Montana (627).
- Four states and the District of Columbia had the highest foreclosure inventory rate in November 2016: New Jersey (2.8%), New York (2.6%), Maine (1.7%), Hawaii (1.7%) and the District of Columbia (1.6%).
- The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory rate in November 2016 were Colorado (0.2%), Minnesota (0.3%), Arizona (0.3%), Utah (0.3%) and California (0.3%).