CoreLogic Reports 54,000 Completed Foreclosures in February
The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Florida (9.9 %), New Jersey (7.2 %), New York (5.0 %), Nevada (4.6 %) and Illinois (4.5 %).
Palm Coast, FL – March 29, 2013 – CoreLogic®, a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider, yesterday released its National Foreclosure Report for February, which provides data on completed U.S. foreclosures and the overall foreclosure inventory. According to CoreLogic, there were 54,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in February 2013, down from 67,000 in February 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 19 percent. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures fell from 58,000* in January 2013 to the February level of 54,000, a decrease of 7 percent.
As a basis of comparison, prior to the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006. Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 4.2 million completed foreclosures across the country.
Approximately 1.2 million homes were in some stage of foreclosure in the U.S., known as the foreclosure inventory, as of February 2013 compared to 1.5 million in February 2012, a decrease of 21 percent. The foreclosure inventory as of February 2013 represented 2.8 percent of all homes with a mortgage compared to 3.5 percent in February 2012. This was the 16th consecutive month with a year-over-year decline. Month over month, the foreclosure inventory was down 1.8 percent from January 2013 to February 2013.
“February’s 54,000 completed foreclosures is the lowest level nationally since September 2007, with most major metropolitan areas experiencing improvements,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Even the major Florida markets are benefiting with the foreclosure inventories falling the fastest in major metropolitan areas, although from a very high level.”
“We continue to see a declining trend in foreclosure activity, with major markets leading the way,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The drop in delinquencies and foreclosure starts will help support a resurgence in the home purchase market this year and next.”
Highlights as of February 2013:
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The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in February 2013 were: Florida (95,000),California (90,000), Michigan (73,000), Texas (57,000) and Georgia (49,000).These five states account for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.
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The five states with the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in February 2013 were: District of Columbia (96), Hawaii (469), North Dakota (482), Maine (542) and West Virginia (588).
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The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Florida (9.9 percent), New Jersey (7.2 percent), New York (5.0 percent), Nevada (4.6 percent) and Illinois (4.5 percent).
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The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Wyoming (0.5 percent), Alaska (0.6 percent), North Dakota (0.7 percent), Nebraska (0.8 percent) and Montana (0.9 percent).
*January data was revised. Revisions are standard, and to ensure accuracy, CoreLogic incorporates newly released data to provide updated results.
Methodology
The data in this report represents foreclosure activity reported through February 2013.
This report separates state data into judicial vs. non-judicial foreclosure state categories. In judicial foreclosure states, lenders must provide evidence to the courts of delinquency in order to move a borrower into foreclosure. In non-judicial foreclosure states, lenders can issue notices of default directly to the borrower without court intervention. This is an important distinction since judicial states, as a rule, have longer foreclosure timelines, thus affecting foreclosure statistics.
A completed foreclosure occurs when a property is auctioned and results in the purchase of the home at auction by either a third party, such as an investor, or by the lender. If the home is purchased by the lender, it is moved into the lender’s real estate owned (REO) inventory.
In “foreclosure by advertisement” states, a redemption period begins after the auction and runs for a statutory period, e.g., six months. During that period, the borrower may regain the foreclosed home by paying all amounts due as calculated under the statute. For purposes of this Foreclosure Report, because so few homes are actually redeemed following an auction, it is assumed that the foreclosure process ends in “foreclosure by advertisement” states at the completion of the auction.
The foreclosure inventory represents the number and share of mortgaged homes that have been placed into the process of foreclosure by the mortgage servicer. Mortgage servicers start the foreclosure process when the mortgage reaches a specific level of serious delinquency as dictated by the investor for the mortgage loan. Once a foreclosure is “started,” and absent the borrower paying all amounts necessary to halt the foreclosure, the home remains in foreclosure until the completed foreclosure results in the sale to a third party at auction or the home enters the lender’s REO inventory. The data in this report accounts for only first liens against a property and does not include secondary liens. The foreclosure inventory is measured only against homes that have an outstanding mortgage. Homes with no mortgage liens can never be in foreclosure and are, therefore, excluded from the analysis. Approximately one-third of homes nationally are owned outright and do not have a mortgage. CoreLogic has approximately 85 percent coverage of U.S. foreclosure data.
Source: CoreLogic February 2013
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