CoreLogic® Reports 57,000 Completed Foreclosures in September

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CoreLogic^® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, today released its National Foreclosure Report for September that provides monthly data on completed U.S. foreclosures and the overall foreclosure inventory. According to the report, there were 57,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in September 2012, down from 83,000 in September 2011 and 59,000* in August 2012. Prior to the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month between 2000 and 2006. Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 3.9 million completed foreclosures across the country.

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Approximately 1.4 million homes, or 3.3 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were in the national foreclosure inventory as of September 2012 compared to 1.5 million, or 3.5 percent, in September 2011. Month-over-month, the national foreclosure inventory was down 1.1 percent from August 2012 to September 2012.  The foreclosure inventory is the share of all mortgaged homes in any stage of the foreclosure process.   

"The continuing downward trend in foreclosures along with a gradual clearing of the shadow inventory are signs of stabilization and improvement in the housing market," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "Increasingly improving market conditions and industry and government policy are allowing distressed homeowners to pursue refinancing, loan modifications or short sales rather than foreclosures."

"Homes lost to foreclosure in September 2012 are down 50 percent since the peak month in September 2010 and 22 percent less than the beginning of the year," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "While there is significant progress to be made before returning to pre-crisis levels, the trend is in the right direction as short sales, up 27 percent year over year in August, continue to gain popularity."  

Highlights as of September 2012:

• The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in September 2012 were: California (108,000), Florida (92,000), Texas (59,000), Georgia (55,000) and Michigan (51,000). These five states account for 47.7 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.
• The five states with the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in September 2012 were: South Dakota (20), District of Columbia (58), Hawaii (436), North Dakota (583) and Maine (625).
• The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Florida (11.5 percent), New Jersey (7.3 percent), New York (5.3 percent), Illinois (5.2 percent) and Nevada (4.9 percent).
• The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Wyoming (0.5 percent), Alaska (0.7 percent), North Dakota (0.7 percent), Nebraska (0.9 percent) and South Dakota (1.1 percent).

*August data was revised. Revisions are standard, and to ensure accuracy CoreLogic incorporates newly released data to provide updated results.

Table 1: Judicial Foreclosure States Foreclosure Ranking (Sorted by Completed Foreclosures)

Table 2: Non-Judicial Foreclosure States Foreclosure Ranking (sorted by Completed Foreclosures)

Table 3: Foreclosure Data for Select Large Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) (sorted by Completed Foreclosures)

Figure 1: Number of Mortgaged Homes per Completed Foreclosure
Judicial Foreclosure States vs. Non-Judicial Foreclosure States (3-month moving average)

Figure 2: Foreclosure Inventory as of September 2012
Judicial Foreclosure States vs. Non-Judicial Foreclosure States

Figure 3: Foreclosure Inventory by State Map

Methodology
The data in this report represents foreclosure activity reported through September 2012.

This report separates state data into judicial vs. non-judicial foreclosure state categories. In judicial foreclosure states, lenders must provide evidence to the courts of delinquency in order to move a borrower into foreclosure, while in non-judicial foreclosure states lenders can issue notices of default directly to the borrower without court intervention. This is an important distinction since judicial states as a rule have longer foreclosure timelines thus affecting foreclosure statistics.

A completed foreclosure occurs when a property is auctioned and results in the purchase of the home at auction by either a third party, such as an investor, or by the lender.  If the home is purchased by the lender, it is moved into the lender's real estate owned (REO) inventory.  In "foreclosure by advertisement" states, a redemption period begins after the auction and runs for a statutory period, e.g., six months.  During that period the borrower may regain the foreclosed home by paying all amounts due as calculated under the statute.  For purposes of this Foreclosure Report, because so few homes are actually redeemed following an auction, it is assumed that the foreclosure process ends in "foreclosure by advertisement" states at the completion of the auction. 

The foreclosure inventory represents the number and share of mortgaged homes that have been placed into the process of foreclosure by the mortgage servicer.  Mortgage servicers start the foreclosure process when the mortgage reaches a specific level of serious delinquency as dictated by the investor for the mortgage loan.  Once a foreclosure is "started," and absent the borrower paying all amounts necessary to halt the foreclosure, the home remains in foreclosure until the completed foreclosure results in the sale to a third party at auction or the home enters the lender's REO inventory. The data in this report accounts for only first liens against a property and does not include secondary liens. The foreclosure inventory is measured only against homes that have an outstanding mortgage. Homes with no mortgage liens can never be in foreclosure and are therefore excluded from the analysis. Approximately one-third of homes nationally are owned outright and do not have a mortgage. CoreLogic has approximately 85 percent coverage of U.S. foreclosure data.

Source: CoreLogic
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About CoreLogic
CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) is a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider in the United States and Australia. Our combined data from public, contributory and proprietary sources spans over 700 million records across 40 years including detailed property records, consumer credit, tenancy, hazard risk and location information.  The markets CoreLogic serves include real estate and mortgage finance, insurance, capital markets, transportation and government.  We deliver value to our clients through unique data, analytics, workflow technology, advisory and managed services.  Our clients rely on us to help identify and manage growth opportunities, improve performance and mitigate risk. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., CoreLogic operates in seven countries.  For more information, please visit www.corelogic.com.

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SOURCE CoreLogic