Comparing foreclosure data on a year-to-year basis can sometimes be deceiving.
While recent findings from CoreLogic show that foreclosure completions and foreclosure inventory rates both declined in August when compared to the same month in 2014, the firm also reported that 500,000 foreclosures were completed during the 12-month span, which is more than double the volume seen during “normal periods.”
“Newly delinquent loans are at the lowest rates during the last two decades. That reflects the tight underwriting and improved economy during the last few years,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a statement. “However, the foreclosure pipeline of legacy loans remains elevated.”
The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in August 2015 were:
- Florida (94,000)
- Michigan (47,000)
- Texas (32,000)
- California (27,000)
- Georgia (26,000)
These five states accounted for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.
The highest volume of foreclosure completions is occurring in the South as Tampa, Atlanta and Orlando lead the nation in this category.
During the 12-month period, Tampa saw 16,350 foreclosures close, while Atlanta and Orlando saw volumes reach 14,418 and 11,145, respectively.
There exists a large gap between these three markets and the next-highest locales for foreclosure completions — Houston (6,770) and Phoenix (6,749).
When it comes to foreclosure inventory rates as a percentage of all mortgaged homes for the 12-month period, New Jersey (4.6 percent), New York (3.7 percent) and Florida (2.6 percent) lead the nation.
No surprise: These states are home to MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) that have the highest inventory rates amongst the nation’s largest markets.
With a rate of 4.9 percent, Nassau County-Suffolk County, New York, takes the top spot, followed by Newark, New Jersey, at 4.5 percent.
New York City-Jersey City had a rate of 3.7 percent entering September. In Florida, Tampa and Orlando had rates of 3.4 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.
A look at some of the nation’s largest metros shows that none have a foreclosure inventory rate that exceeds 2 percent:
- Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley (San Francisco’s East Bay), 0.3 percent
- Los Angeles, 0.5 percent
- Houston, 0.5 percent
- Washington D.C.-Alexandria, 1.1 percent
- Chicago, 1.8 percent
CoreLogic also reported that the number of mortgages in serious delinquency — 90 days or more past due — declined by 20.7 percent from August 2014 to August 2015 to 1.3 million mortgages. This is the lowest serious delinquency rate nationally since January 2008.
