August foreclosures continue falling sharply.
The number of completed foreclosures nationwide fell 34 percent to 48,000 in August, compared to August 2012 according to the latest report from CoreLogic. From July to August this year, the number of completed foreclosure ticked up slightly, from 47,000.
While the continued year-over-year decline is good news for the burgeoning housing recovery, the rate of foreclosures is still well above historical norms. Completed foreclosures averaged just 21,000 per month nationwide, between 2000 and 2006.
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Residential shadow inventory as of July 2013 was 1.9 million homes, representing a value of $293 billion and a 3.7-month supply. That’s a 22 percent decline from July 2012, when shadow inventory was 2.4 million and down 38 percent from its 2010 peak when it reached 3 million homes. There have been about 4.5 million completed foreclosures since September 2008.
“The foreclosure inventory continues to improve, as exhibited by these recent numbers,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Mark Fleming said in a statement. “A surge in completed foreclosures and a rise in foreclosure inventory is unlikely given continued house price improvements and shortages of supply in many markets.”
As of August 2013, there were about 939,000 homes in the United States in some stage of foreclosure, down 33 percent from 1.4 million in August 2012. Month-over-month, foreclosure inventory was fell 3.2 percent.
Total foreclosure inventory in August represented 2.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage, down from 3.3 percent in August 2012.
