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Even at the declining rate, completedrnforeclosures are still running at better than twice what is historically consideredrnnormal.  CoreLogic points out as a basisrnof comparison that in the six years before the 2007 decline in the housingrnmarket, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month. Since the foreclosurerncrisis began in earnest in September 2008 there have been approximately 5.1rnmillion foreclosures completed.</p

The foreclosure inventory stood atrn648,000 homes at the end of June compared to 1 million a year earlier, arnyear-over-year drop of 35 percent and down 3.9 percent from May.  It was the 32nd month of consecutive annualrndeclines and the 17^th month in which those declines have been inrnexcess of 20 percent.  The foreclosurerninventory rate, the percentage of all mortgaged homes in foreclosure, hasrndropped from 2.5 percent in June 2013 to 1.7 percent.</p

“While 32 straight months of year-over-year decline in thernforeclosure rate is cause for celebration, the total number of homes still inrnthe foreclosure process remains almost four times as high as the average in thernearly 2000s,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Additionally,rnthere is concern over whether or not we can maintain this pace of improvementrnas the foreclosure inventory becomes more concentrated in judicial statesrnwith lengthier, more complex processes and timelines.”</p

All but one state had double digits drops in completed foreclosuresrnyear-over-year.  Wyoming saw a 5.1rnincrease in its completed foreclosures but this still resulted in only 767rnactions.  Five states, Florida, Michigan,rnTexas, California, and Georgia together accounted for nearly half of allrncompleted foreclosures in the nation in June.rn</p

Thirty-six states had annualrndeclines in their foreclosure inventory greater than 30 percent and Arizona andrnUtah’s inventories dropped more than 50 percent.  The five statesrnwith the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homesrnwere: New Jersey (5.7 percent), Florida (5.0 percent), New York (4.3 percent),rnHawaii (3.1 percent) and Maine (2.7 percent). rnAll are judicial process states.rn</p

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“The national inventory of foreclosed homes fell for the 32^{nd</supstraight month to just under 650,000 in June. rnMost of the U.S. has reduced its shadow inventory to pre-recessionrnlevels, but the Northeast, Florida and the Pacific Northwest remain elevated,"rnsaid Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "The great news here isrnthat the basic underpinnings of the housing market are strengthening, but therernis still work to do.”} 

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