U.S. foreclosures totaled 830,000 in 2011, down 24% from 2010; since financial crisis began, there have been roughly 3.2 million completed foreclosures: CoreLogic

Cindy Allen

SANTA ANA, California , February 8, 2012 (PRNewswire) – CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, today released its first national Foreclosure Report which provides monthly data on completed foreclosures, foreclosure inventory and 90+ delinquency rates. Completed foreclosures for all of 2011 totaled 830,000 compared with 1.1 million in 2010. In December 2011 there was a month-over-month decrease in completed foreclosures to 55,000 from 57,000 in November 2011. The December 2011 completed foreclosures figure was also down from one year ago when it stood at 67,000. From the start of the financial crisis in September 2008, there have been approximately 3.2 million completed foreclosures.

The new data from CoreLogic also shows that nationally 1.4 million homes, or 3.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were in the foreclosure inventory as of December 2011. The foreclosure inventory is the stock of homes in the foreclosure process. A property moves into the foreclosure inventory when the mortgage servicer places the property into the foreclosure process after serious delinquency is reached and remains there until the foreclosure is completed. The foreclosure inventory is measured only against homes with an outstanding mortgage, rather than against all homes. Nationwide, roughly one-third of homeowners own their homes outright.

Nationally, the number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased 8.4 percent in December 2011 compared to December 2010, a decline of 130,000 properties nationwide. The number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased by 5.3* percent in November 2011 compared to November 2010 as well.

The share of borrowers nationally that were 90 days or more delinquent on their mortgage payments, classified as seriously delinquent, improved to 7.3 percent in December 2011 compared to 7.8 percent in December 2010.

According to CoreLogic, servicers nationwide stepped up the rate at which they were able to process distressed assets –– the distressed clearing ratio –– in December 2011. The distressed clearing ratio is calculated by dividing the number of REO sales by completed foreclosures. The higher the ratio, the faster the REO inventory is clearing. The distressed clearing ratio was 1.03, up from 0.94 in November 2011.

"The inventory of foreclosed properties has begun to shrink, and the pace at which properties are entering foreclosure is slowing. While foreclosure filings are being curtailed by a variety of judicial and regulatory constraints, mortgage servicers are completing REO sales faster than they are completing foreclosures," said Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. "This is the first time in a year that REO sales have outpaced completed foreclosures, and part of the reason for the decrease in the foreclosure inventory."

Highlights as of December 2011

The percent of homeowners nationally who were more than 90 days late on their mortgage payment, including homes in foreclosure and REO, was 7.3 percent for December 2011 compared to 7.8 percent for December 2010, and 7.2 percent in November 2011.
The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory were: Florida (11.9 percent), New Jersey (6.4 percent), Illinois (5.4 percent), Nevada (5.3 percent) and New York (4.6 percent).
The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory were: Wyoming (0.7 percent), Alaska (0.8 percent), North Dakota (0.8 percent), Nebraska (1.0 percent) and Washington (1.3 percent).
Of the top 100 markets, measured by Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) population, 34 are showing an increase in the foreclosure inventory in December 2011 compared to a year ago, an improvement from November 2011 when 46* of the top CBSAs were showing an increase in the foreclosure inventory compared to a year ago.

Methodology
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, we assume the foreclosure process ends in "foreclosure by advertisement" states at the completion of the auction. The foreclosure inventory represents the number and ratio of 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. Serious delinquency is typically defined as 90, 120, or 150 days delinquent (sometimes more). 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 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. The distressed clearing ratio is calculated by dividing the number of REO sales by completed foreclosures. It is a measure of whether the REO inventory is growing or shrinking. The higher the ratio, the faster the REO inventory is clearing.



About CoreLogic
CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) is a leading provider of consumer, financial and property information, analytics and services to business and government. The Company combines public, contributory and proprietary data to develop predictive decision analytics and provide business services that bring dynamic insight and transparency to the markets it serves. CoreLogic has built one of the largest and most comprehensive U.S. real estate, mortgage application, fraud, and loan performance databases and is a recognized leading provider of mortgage and automotive credit reporting, property tax, valuation, flood determination, and geospatial analytics and services. More than one million users rely on CoreLogic to assess risk, support underwriting, investment and marketing decisions, prevent fraud, and improve business performance in their daily operations. The Company, headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif., has more than 5,000 employees globally. For more information, visit www.corelogic.com.



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

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