CoreLogic: Foreclosure activity in R.I. continues to decline

RHODE ISLAND'S real estate market improved in March as foreclosure inventory improved, along with completed foreclosures and seriously delinquent loans. / COURTESY CORELOGIC
RHODE ISLAND'S real estate market improved in March as foreclosure inventory improved, along with completed foreclosures and seriously delinquent loans. / COURTESY CORELOGIC

PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island housing market continued to heal in March, according to housing data firm CoreLogic.
Irvine, Calif.-based CoreLogic said that for all three measures of the housing foreclosure market, the Ocean State saw improvements. The foreclosure inventory – that is any property in some stage of the foreclosure process – fell 3.4 percent when compared with March 2015 to 1.6 percent. In addition, the number of foreclosures completed in the 12 months ended March 31 totaled 1,221, a drop of 26.3 percent from the 12-month period that ended with March 31, 2015.
In the third measure, serious delinquency rate, which is defined as mortgages 90 days or more past due, Rhode Island saw a 17.2 percent year-over-year decline to a total of 4.4 percent.
The Ocean State seems to be recovering more on par with the rest of the nation. While foreclosure inventory across the nation fell 23.2 percent in March to 1.1 percent (compared with 1.6 percent in Rhode Island), completed foreclosures fell 19.4 percent nationally in March, less than the 26.3 percent locally. And the national serious delinquency rate totaled 3.1 percent in the United States, a decline of 19.1 percent year over year (compared with 4.4 percent and a drop of 17.2 percent in Rhode Island).
The Boston Core-based Statistical Area saw foreclosure inventory of 1.1 percent in March, a decline of 15.7 percent over the 12-month period. The serious delinquency rate fell 16.5 percent to 3.1 percent. Completed foreclosures, however, saw a 28.2 percent increase to 1,065 in March.
“Nationally, the economy added 609,000 jobs during the first three months of 2016, and average weekly earnings grew 2 percent over the past year,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Job and earnings growth have helped bring serious delinquency rates down in nearly every state. However, serious delinquency rates increased in North Dakota and West Virginia, two states affected by the drop in demand for the fuel each produces.”
“Delinquencies and foreclosure rates are now at pre-crash levels as the benefits of higher home prices, improving economic fundamentals and years of cautious underwriting are being felt across the country,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Longer term, as loans made since 2009 account for a larger share of outstanding debt, we anticipate that the serious delinquency rate will have further substantive declines.”

No posts to display