Foreclosure figures in the United States have declined slightly, and this trend is expected to continue as the spring season picks up pace. According to figures from CoreLogic, there were 65,000 completed foreclosures in February compared to 66,000 in February last year, and 71,000 in January 2012.
Since the financial crisis began in September 2008 there have been around 3.4 million completed foreclosures, with 862,000 completed in the 12 months up to February. Around 1.4 million homes were in foreclosure in February this year, compared to 1.5 million in February last year.
This equates to around 3.4% of all homes that still have a mortgage. The number of borrowers in foreclosure fell by 115,000 in February compared to February 2011, which is a decline of 7.6%.
With sales of previously owned homes up in February, and with the beginning of the spring buying season, estate agents expect the inventory to decline further.
During February more than 60 markets in the US saw foreclosure rates decrease compared to a year earlier. The combination of new jobs growth and continued low interest rates show the housing market is finally improving.
During the last 12 months those states with the highest numbers of completed foreclosures include Californian with 154,000, Florida with 87,000, Michigan with 64,000, Arizona with 63,000, and Texas with 58,000. Between them they accounted for 49.4% of all completed foreclosures within the United States.
The states with the highest foreclosure rates include Florida with 12%, New Jersey at 6.6%, Illinois at 5.4%, Nevada and 5%, and New York at 4.9%. Those states with the lowest foreclosure rates include Wyoming, North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Alaska. Montana had highest foreclosure rate at just 1.4% while all the others were 1% or lower.
No comments:
Post a Comment