U.S. foreclosures drop 24% in 2013

U.S. foreclosures fell by 24 percent in 2013, as homes in some stage of the process decreased.

Real estate market tracking firm CoreLogic reports 620,111 completed foreclosures countrywide in 2013, down from 820,498 in 2012, according to a news release.

In December, there were 45,000 completed foreclosures, down from 52,000 in the same month of 2012. By the end of December, there were roughly 837,000 homes in some stage of the foreclosure process, compared to 1.2 million at the end of 2012.

"The foreclosure inventory fell by more than 30 percent in December on a year-over-year basis, twice the decline from a year ago," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, in the release. "The decline indicates that the distressed foreclosure inventory is healing at an accelerating rate heading into 2014."

For the year, completed foreclosures in Missouri amounted to 13,811, according to CoreLogic.