The company said there were 41,000 completed foreclosures inrnMarch, down from 48,000 in March 2014 but 7 percent more homes were lost tornforeclosure during the month than in February when 38,000 foreclosures werernreported.  Completed foreclosures are nowrndown 65.2 percent from the peak in September 2010.  Since September 2008 when the financialrncrisis is said to have begun approximately 5.6 million homes have beenrnforeclosed.</p

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Takenrntogether the five states with the highest number of foreclosures for the 12rnmonths ending in March accounted for almost half of those in the entirernnation.  They were Florida (110,000), Michigan (50,000),rnTexas (34,000), Georgia (28,000) and Ohio (28,000).</p

There were 542,000 homes in the processrnof foreclosure in March, an annual change of -25.7 percent.  The inventory represented 1.4 percent of allrnmortgaged homes, returning the foreclosure inventory rate to March 2008 levels.  The rate in March 2014 was 1.9 percent andrnthe inventory was composed of 729,000 homes. rnOn a month-over-month basis the inventory was down 1.3 percent.</p

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Four states and the District ofrnColumbia topped the list with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentagernof all mortgaged homes: New Jersey (5.3 percent), New York (3.9 percent),rnFlorida (3.3 percent), Hawaii (2.7 percent) and the District of Columbia (2.5rnpercent).</p

The serious delinquency rate (90 daysrnor more past due or in foreclosure) declined by 19.1 percent in March comparedrnto a year earlier.  The March rate wasrn3.9 percent, the lowest rate since May 2008. rnOn a monthly basis the serious delinquency rate was down 1.9 percent. </p

“We are seeing additionalrnimprovement in housing market conditions due to a decline in the serious delinquencyrnrate to 3.9 percent, far below the peak of 8.6 percent in early 2010,”rnsaid Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Despite the decline inrnthe number of loans that are 90 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure, thernpercent of homeowners struggling to keep up is still well above thernpre-recession average of 1.5 percent.”</p

“Foreclosures and seriousrndelinquency rates continue to drop as the home purchase market begins to emergernfrom its eight-year slump,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO ofrnCoreLogic. “Based on the current trends in completed foreclosure rates, wernexpect the foreclosure inventory to drop below 1.3 percent by midyear, a levelrnnot seen since the end of 2007. Many states in the Northeast and Midwest, asrnwell as Florida, still have elevated levels of distressed housing, but they arernmaking more rapid progress as of late. In March, foreclosures in these areasrnaccounted for a large proportion of completed foreclosures.”

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