CoreLogic report outlines the country’s foreclosure progress, and it looks promising.

The national foreclosure inventory continues to dwindle. However, we’re more than five years removed and rates remain well above normal, pre-crisis levels, according CoreLogic’s most recent foreclosure report.

The real estate information company found that in August, 45,000 foreclosures had been completely nationally, representing a 22.2 percent decrease since the same time last year and a 1.1 percent increase from July.

Yeay-over-year, Houston’s overall foreclosure inventory has dropped 0.3 percent to 0.7 percent, where it currently stands. The decrease represents more than 8,500 completed foreclosures in the last 12 months, and gives Houston one of the lowest rates in the country. Similarly, Houston’s serious delinquency rate, which CoreLogic reported as 4.1 percent, is well below the national average of 4.3 percent.

Progressing as a Nation

CoreLogic’s report went on to further diagnose the country’s foreclosure situation, finding that:

• August’s year-over-year decrease represents 19 consecutive months of at least 20 percent year-over-year declines.
• Only two states dialed to post double-digit declines in year-over-year foreclosures – Washington, D.C. and Wyoming.
• 28 states experienced year-over-year declines in foreclosure inventories greater than 30 percent.

Foreclosure Inventory Below 500,000 By Year’s End?

Nationally, foreclosure completions went up in August from July, but year-over-year, states are still working to push and keep rates down, and it’s the same with serious delinquencies. In its report, CoreLogic Deputy Chief Economist Sam Khater pointed out that the number of foreclosures during the last year is at the lowest level since November 2007, when the housing bubble collapsed.

“Clearly there has been a large improvement in the market the last few years, but five years into the economic expansion the foreclosure inventory remains at nearly three times the normal level,” he said. “Since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, there have been 7 million completed foreclosures, which account for 15 percent of all mortgages.”

Khater went on to further speculate on the eventual depletion of foreclosures, suggesting that the “shadow inventory” could fall below 500,000 units by the end of 2014, which he said “could provide a solid boost to the recovery in housing in 2015.”