Foreclosures were completed on fewer properties in July than during the month-earlier and year-earlier periods. Even the biggest foreclosure state slowed its activity. Non-judicial foreclosure states were dominant among states with the greatest number of filings, but the worst rates of foreclosure were in judicial foreclosure states.
Last month saw 58,000 U.S. foreclosures completed by mortgage servicers. Home repossessions fell from June, when volume totaled a revised 62,000.
Improvement was more significant compared to July of last year, when 69,000 foreclosures were filed.
The National Foreclosure Report from CoreLogic indicated that 3.8 million U.S. foreclosures have been completed since the financial crisis exploded in September 2008.
Previously reported data from CoreLogic indicate that 448,000 foreclosures have been completed from Jan. 1 through July 31.
During the 12 months ended July 31, completed foreclosures totaled 794,744, inching up from the previous month’s 12-month total of 793,663.
California maintained the worst state record with 118,424 foreclosures completed during the prior 12 months. Florida, Michigan and Texas followed.
No. 5 Georgia, where 54,019 distressed loans converted to real-estate-owned status, was host to the core-based statistical area with the most completed foreclosures: Atlanta’s 36,346.
All five of the states collectively accounted for 48 percent of all U.S. foreclosures during July. Only one of the five-worst states — Florida — was a judicial foreclosure state.
On the low end of filings were South Dakota’s 32 — the only state under a hundred for the one-year period. Washington, D.C., Hawaii and North Dakota followed. Maine finished out the five states with the fewest foreclosures at 608 repossessions.
Last month’s foreclosure inventory accounted for 3.2 percent of all homes, down from the prior month’s previously reported 3.4 percent rate — though revisions had CoreLogic reporting “Month-over-month, the national foreclosure inventory was unchanged from June 2012.” The foreclosure inventory rate was 3.5 percent a year previous.
Florida’s 11.2 percent inventory rate was higher than any other state but better than 11.5 percent in June. Propping up the Sunshine State’s rate were the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater and Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford core-based statistical areas — the only two major areas with foreclosure inventory rates North of 10 percent.
New Jersey’s 5.7 percent foreclosure inventory rate was next, then 5.2 percent in New York, 4.9 percent in Illinois and 4.7 percent in Nevada. All of the five-worst states except Nevada were judicial foreclosure states.
Wyoming’s 0.5 percent was the lowest of any state.
The number of U.S. homes in any stage of foreclosure eased to 1.3 million from the previously reported 1.4 million U.S. properties, although the latest report indicated no month-over-month change. In July 2011, the number of borrowers facing foreclosure was 1.5 million.
