U.S. foreclosures down 9.4% in May

Real estate market tracker CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX) reports 47,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. during May, a 9.4 percent decrease compared to 52,000 in the same month of 2013.

May's figure was up from 45,000 completed foreclosures in April, according to a news release.

Since the financial crisis began, roughly 5 million homes have been foreclosed nationwide. Before the recession took hold, between 2000 and 2006, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month, CoreLogic reports.

The May foreclosure inventory - describing U.S. homes in some stage of the foreclosure process - counted roughly 660,000 homes, a drop of 37 percent compared to May 2013, according to the release.

"There is still much more hard work to do to clear the backlog of foreclosed properties," CoreLogic President and CEO Anand Nallathambi said in the release. "Although difficult, we need to continue to aggressively clear distressed homes to ensure the return of a healthy housing market."

For the 12 months ended May 31, there were 17,226 completed foreclosures in Missouri. The foreclosure inventory was 0.6 percent, down three-tenths of a percentage point from a year ago, according to the release.

Springfield's April foreclosure rate dropped to 0.49 percent from 0.8 percent in the same month of 2013, according to the most recent CoreLogic data.