The foreclosure frenzy has officially fizzled.
The current foreclosure rate of 1.2 percent, says CoreLogic in it’s most recent report, is the same as the November 2007 rate. That accounts for a total of 463,000 homes somewhere in the foreclosure process in October 2015. Not only is that rate remarkably low, the inventory of distressed properties has slid every month for the past 48 months.
A year ago, 589,000 homes were in the foreclosure pipeline.
In October 2015, foreclosure inventory was down 21.5 percent year-over-year. Completed foreclosure this past October were down 27.1 percent. There were 51,000 homes foreclosed on in October 2014, and only 37,000 homes completed the foreclosure process in October 2105.
DC is a leader in the largest foreclosed inventory expressed as a percentage of properties with mortgages. The top five on that inauspicious list for October 2015 are: New Jersey (4.5 percent), New York (3.6 percent), Hawaii (2.5 percent), Florida (2.5 percent) and DC (2.3 percent). In New York, New Jersey and Florida, court action is required to complete foreclosures, so properties languish longer.
Expressed as a percentage of foreclosures in a metro area, DC is on the top 10 list again, with a metro foreclosure rate of 1.1 percent.
But the raw numbers tell a different story, with DC making a good showing on the top 10 list of least foreclosures expressed as a number. The list of states with the fewest foreclosures in the prior 12 months through October 2015 was led by DC, with 76.
Prior to the most recent housing market collapse, an average of about 21,000 homes finished the foreclosure journey each month. And, since homeownership in the U.S. hit its peak in 2004, about 8 million homes have shook out of the foreclosure process.
“We are heading into 2016 with the lowest foreclosure inventory in eight years thanks to escalating home values and progressive improvement in the US economy,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, in a statement. “Equally encouraging is the drop in mortgage delinquency rates reflecting the stronger labor market and tighter underwriting since 2009.”
Unemployment in the US now stands at 5 percent, the lowest since December 2007.
The most foreclosures in the past 12 months were Florida (86,000), Michigan (59,000), Texas (30,000), Georgia (25,000) and California (24,000). The fewest foreclosures were in DC, North Dakota (239), Wyoming (515), West Virginia (544) and Hawaii (700).
