Foreclosure Inventory Down 33%

The nation's foreclosure inventory continues a precipitous decline, falling 33 percent year-over-year in August, according to CoreLogic’s August National Foreclosure Report. About 939,000 homes were in some stage of foreclosure, down from 1.4 million in August 2012.

“The foreclosure inventory continues to improve, as exhibited by these recent numbers,” says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic's chief economist. “A surge in completed foreclosures and a rise in the foreclosure inventory is unlikely given continued house-price improvements and shortages of supply in many markets.”

The foreclosure inventory in August represented 2.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage compared to 3.3 percent in August 2012.

Shadow inventory is another threat that is starting to recede. The residential shadow inventory in August fell to its lowest level since August 2008 to 1.9 million homes. That represents a 3.7-month supply and is down 38 percent from its 2010 peak of 3 million homes, according to CoreLogic.

"Over the past year, the value of the U.S. shadow inventory dropped by $87 billion, a sign of increased normalcy in the housing market,” says Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “With a year-over-year decrease of 22 percent in July, the shadow inventory has now declined steadily for 10 consecutive months.”

In August, the number of completed foreclosures fell 34 percent year-over-year. Completed foreclosures, however, are still high by historical levels. Prior to the housing crisis, completed foreclosures — the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure — averaged 21,000 per month between 2000 and 2006. In August, they were at 48,000.

Since the financial crisis began in 2008, about 4.5 million homes nationwide have been lost to foreclosure.

Source: CoreLogic