U.S. foreclosures down 27%

Completed U.S. foreclosures decreased 27 percent to 52,000 in May compared to 71,000 in the same month of 2012, according to data released today by Santa Ana, Calif.-based real estate data tracking firm CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX).

Roughly 1 million homes were in some stage of the foreclosure process - dubbed the foreclosure inventory by CoreLogic - during May, down 29 percent from 1.4 million in May 2012, according to a news release.

In Missouri, the May foreclosure inventory indicated 1 percent of all homes with a mortgage in the state were in some stage of the foreclosure process, up from 1.5 percent a year ago. For the 12-month period ending May 31, 16,367 foreclosures were completed in the state, which compared to 18,069 foreclosures in the previous year ending May 2012.

In the U.S., foreclosures during the same one-year period ending in May totaled 706,349, the release said, down 14 percent compared to 819,327 during the previous 12-month period.

"Affordability, despite the rise in home prices during the past year, and consumer confidence are big contributors to these positive trends," CoreLogic President and CEO Anand Nallathambi said in the release. "We are particularly encouraged by the broad-based nature of the housing market recovery so far in 2013."