There continues to be improvement in the number of distressed homes nationwide, according to a report from CoreLogic.
The analytics provider's March 2015 National Foreclosure Report found that the foreclosure inventory shrunk 25.7% from a year earlier, and completed foreclosures fell 15.5% during that same time.
In March 2015, the national foreclosure inventory comprised 542,000 homes, or 1.4% of all mortgages versus 729,000 or 1.9% a year earlier.
Additionally, the number of mortgages in serious delinquency — meaning 90 or more days past due including loans in foreclosure or REO — dropped 19.1% year-over-year, to 1.5 million mortgages. Altogether, only 3.9% of mortgages are in serious delinquency, which CoreLogic identified as the lowest rate since May 2008.
CoreLogic noted that it expects the foreclosure inventory to fall below 1.3% of all mortgages by midyear as conditions improve in housing markets around the country.
"Many states in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as Florida, still have elevated levels of distressed housing, but they are making more rapid progress as of late," said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, in the release. "In March, foreclosures in these areas accounted for a large proportion of completed foreclosures."
Florida possessed the highest number of completed foreclosures during the year ending in March 2015 with 110,000, followed by Michigan, Texas, Georgia and Ohio. New Jersey, meanwhile, had the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes at 5.3%.
Conversely, South Dakota featured the fewest completed foreclosures during the year ending in March with just 16, and Alaska had the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes at 0.3%.
