Foreclosure inventory plummets

Foreclosure inventory has dropped 35% in the last 12 months, according to data released today

Foreclosure inventory has dropped 35% in the last 12 months, according to data released today.

In February, about 752,000 homes in the U.S. were in some stage of the foreclosure process. That’s down from 1.2 million in February of 2013. Month over month, foreclosure inventory was down 3.3% from January, according to analytics firm CoreLogic’s February 2014 National Foreclosure Report.

Completed foreclosures also fell by 15%, according to the report. The report found that there were 43,000 completed foreclosures nationally in February, down from 51,000 in February 2013.

“Although there is good news that completed foreclosures are trending lower, the bigger news is the impressive decline in the foreclosure and shadow inventories,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Every state has had double-digit, year-over-year declines in foreclosure inventory, which is reflected in the $70 billion decline in the shadow inventory.”

“The stock of seriously delinquent homes and the foreclosure rate are back to levels last seen in the final quarter of 2008,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The shadow inventory has also declined year over year for the past 3 years as the housing market continues to heal, including double-digit declines for the past 16 consecutive months.”