CoreLogic: R.I. foreclosure inventory 1.6% in March

RHODE ISLAND'S foreclosure inventory was 1.6 percent in March, according to CoreLogic. / COURTESY CORELOGIC
RHODE ISLAND'S foreclosure inventory was 1.6 percent in March, according to CoreLogic. / COURTESY CORELOGIC

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s foreclosure inventory was 1.6 percent in March, a drop of three-tenths of a percentage point compared with the same prior-year period, according to CoreLogic.
The Ocean State’s foreclosure inventory nearly matched the March national average at 1.4 percent.
The number of completed foreclosures in Rhode Island dropped to 1,558 in March from 1,643 in March 2014. The serious delinquency rate was 5.4 percent, a six-tenths of a percentage point drop from a year ago. Serious delinquency is defined as mortgages that are 90 days or more past due, CoreLogic said.
Nationally, there were 544,263 completed foreclosures in March, a 107,802 decrease from a year ago, and the serious delinquency rate was 3.9 percent, an eight-tenths of a percentage point drop from a year ago.
Florida had the highest number of completed foreclosures at 110,000 in March, followed by Michigan with 50,000 and Texas, 34,000. South Dakota had the fewest completed foreclosures at 16, followed by the District of Columbia with 87 and North Dakota, 326.
New Jersey, New York and Florida had had the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes at 5.3 percent, 3.9 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively. Alaska had the lowest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes at 0.3 percent, followed by Nebraska, 0.4 percent, and North Dakota, 0.5 percent.
“We are seeing additional improvement in housing market conditions due to a decline in the serious delinquency rate to 3.9 percent, far below the peak of 8.6 percent in early 2010,” Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in a statement. “Despite the decline in the number of loans that are 90 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure, the percent of homeowners struggling to keep up is still well above the pre-recession average of 1.5 percent.”
Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said foreclosures and serious delinquency rates continue to drop as the home purchase markets starts to merge from its eight-year slump.
“Based on the current trends in completed foreclosure rates, we expect the foreclosure inventory to drop below 1.3 percent by midyear, a level not seen since the end of 2007. Many states in the Northeast and Midwest, as well as Florida, still have elevated levels of distressed housing, but they are making more rapid progress as of late. In March, foreclosures in these areas accounted for a large proportion of completed foreclosures,” Nallathambi said.

No posts to display