Foreclosures continue to drop

he U.S. foreclosure inventory fell 27.9 percent year-over-year in July, while the number of completed foreclosures dropped 24.4 percent during that time, according to data released today.

Foreclosures went from 50,000 in July 2014 to 38,000 in July of this year, another sign that the national housing market is on the mend, reported Irvine-base CoreLogic in its monthly assessment of the national foreclosure market.

That drop represents a decrease of nearly 68 percent from September 2010, when foreclosures peaked at 117,225. About 5.8 million homes have been lost to foreclosure since the financial crisis began seven years ago.

As of July 2015, about 1.2 percent of all U.S. homes with a mortgage were in some state of foreclosure, compared with 1.7 percent in July of last year.

The foreclosure rate for July of this year was the lowest rate for any month since December 2007, CoreLogic stated.

“Job market gains and home-price appreciation help(ed) to push serious delinquency and foreclosure rates lower,” said Frank Nothaft, CoreLogic’s chief economist, in a statement. “Home prices in July rose 6.9 percent from a year earlier, building equity for homeowners.”

In the Inland Empire, the foreclosure inventory was down 0.3 percent year-over-year in July, and the serious delinquencies were down 0.8 percent during that time.

Nationwide, the number of mortgages in serious delinquency – defined as 90 days or more past due – declined by 23 percent in July compared with July 2014, to 3.4 percent. That’s the lowest monthly delinquency rate reported since December 2007, CoreLogic reported.