National foreclosures drop in January

Real estate market tracker CoreLogic reports 43,000 completed foreclosures nationwide in January, down from 55,000 in the same month a year earlier.

The latest decrease represents the 37th consecutive month of year-to-year declines, according to a news release.

However, the January figure was up from the 37,000 completed foreclosures reported in December.

Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, roughly 5.5 million homes have been foreclosed upon. Comparatively, before the housing market decline in 2007, foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month 2000-06, according to the release.

As of January, the number of mortgages seriously delinquent was 4 percent, the lowest rate since June 2008.

Missouri’s foreclosure inventory was 0.6 percent in January, and the state recorded 11,786 foreclosures for the 12 months ended Jan. 31. That’s down from 14,912 foreclosures in the previous 12-month period, according to the release.[[In-content Ad]]