Foreclosures have dropped nearly 40 percent year-to-year, according to CoreLogic’s recently-released December 2016 National Foreclosure Report.
In December 2016, there were 21,000 completed foreclosures, down 15,000 from December 2015. In December 2015, about 467,000 houses were in a stage of disclosure, compared to 335,000 a year later.
Additionally, the seriously delinquent rate was 2.6 percent in December, the lowest it has been since June of 2007. The serious delinquent rate is those homes that are 90 days or more past due, including loans in foreclosure or REO.
“While the decline in serious delinquency has been geographically broad, some oil-producing markets have shown the effects of low oil prices on the housing market. Serious delinquency rates have rose in Louisiana, Wyoming and North Dakota, reflecting the weakness in oil production,” said Frank Nothaft, the chief economist at CoreLogic.
The national foreclosure inventory has dropped as well. From November to December 2016, it fell 1.9 percent, the 62nd month in a row that it declined. Year-to-year, foreclosure inventory decreased 29.5 percent.
The foreclosure rate of all homes with a mortgage dipped below 1 percent, falling to .8 percent, once again matching June 2007 levels.
In Pennsylvania, the foreclosure inventory is 1.1 percent, slightly above the national average, but nowhere near New Jersey (2.8 percent) and New York (2.7 percent). Year-to-year, the commonwealth saw a decrease of 29.1 percent in foreclosure inventory. The number of completed foreclosures for the year 2016 in Pennsylvania was 13,366, and Pennsylvania’s serious delinquency rate is above the national average, at 3.5 percent.
“Foreclosure and delinquency trends continue to head in the right direction powered principally by increasing employment levels, stringent underwriting standards and higher home prices over the past few years,” said CoreLogic President and CEO Anand Nallathambi.