CoreLogic Reports 767,000 Completed Foreclosures In 2012

IRVINE, Calif. , Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CoreLogic ^® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider, today released its National Foreclosure Report, which provides data on completed U.S. foreclosures and the overall foreclosure inventory. According to CoreLogic, there were 56,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in December 2012, down from 71,000 in December 2011, a year-over-year decrease of 21 percent. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures fell from 58,000* in November 2012 to the current 56,000, a decrease of 3 percent. As a basis of comparison, 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 4.1 million completed foreclosures across the country.

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Approximately 1.2 million homes were in the national foreclosure inventory as of December 2012 compared to 1.5 million in December 2011, a 19.5 percent year-over-year decrease. Month over month, the national foreclosure inventory was down 4.2 percent from November 2012 to December 2012. The foreclosure inventory is the share of all mortgaged homes in any stage of the foreclosure process. The national foreclosure inventory as of December 2012 represented 3 percent of all homes with a mortgage.

"The most encouraging foreclosure trend reported here is that the inventory of foreclosed properties is almost 20 percent smaller than a year ago," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "This big improvement indicates we are working toward resolving the backlog of the most distressed assets in the shadow inventory."

"The rate of foreclosures continues to trend down, albeit at a slower rate as we exit 2012," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "This trend should continue into 2013 and is another positive signal that the gradual healing process in the housing market is gaining traction."  

Highlights as of December 2012:

• The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in December 2012 were: California (100,000), Florida (98,000), Michigan (74,000), Texas (57,000) and Georgia (49,000).These five states account for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.
• The five states with the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in December 2012 were: District of Columbia (89), Hawaii (421), North Dakota (521), Maine (537) and West Virginia (645).
• The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Florida (10.1 percent), New Jersey (7.0 percent), New York (5.1 percent), Nevada (4.7 percent) and Illinois (4.5 percent).
• The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Wyoming (0.4 percent), Alaska (0.6 percent), North Dakota (0.7 percent), Nebraska (0.8 percent) and Colorado (1.0 percent).

*November 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 ForeclosureJudicial Foreclosure States vs. Non-Judicial Foreclosure States (3-month moving average)

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

Figure 3: Foreclosure Inventory by State Map

Methodology The data in this report represent foreclosure activity reported through December 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. 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 The data provided is for use only by the primary recipient or the primary recipient's publication or broadcast. This data may not be re-sold, republished or licensed to any other source, including publications and sources owned by the primary recipient's parent company without prior written permission from CoreLogic. Any CoreLogic data used for publication or broadcast, in whole or in part, must be sourced as coming from CoreLogic, a data and analytics company. For use with broadcast or web content, the citation must directly accompany first reference of the data. If the data is illustrated with maps, charts, graphs or other visual elements, the CoreLogic logo must be included on screen or website. For questions, analysis or interpretation of the data, contact Lori Guyton at [e-mail] or Bill Campbell at [e-mail] . Data provided may not be modified without the prior written permission of CoreLogic. Do not use the data in any unlawful manner. This data is compiled from public records, contributory databases and proprietary analytics, and its accuracy is dependent upon these sources.

About CoreLogic CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) is a leading property information, analytics and services provider in the United States and Australia. The company's combined data from public, contributory, and proprietary sources includes over 3.3 billion records spanning more than 40 years, providing detailed coverage of property, mortgages and other encumbrances, consumer credit, tenancy, location, hazard risk and related performance information. The markets CoreLogic serves include real estate and mortgage finance, insurance, capital markets, transportation and government. CoreLogic delivers value to clients through unique data, analytics, workflow technology, advisory and managed services. Clients rely on CoreLogic 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

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