A new report from real estate data firm CoreLogic shows Massachusetts foreclosure inventory increased .1 percent in August compared with one year ago.
About 2 percent of all Massachusetts homes with a mortgage, or about 8,039 homes, were in the foreclosure inventory as of August.
Nationwide, the foreclosure inventory has been declining. About 1.3 million homes, or 3.2 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were in the national foreclosure inventory as of August, compared with 1.4 million, or 3.4 percent, in August 2011. Month-over-month, the national foreclosure inventory was unchanged from July to August. The foreclosure inventory is the share of all mortgaged homes in any stage of the foreclosure process.
According to the report, there were 57,000 completed foreclosures in the United States in August, down from 75,000 in August 2011. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 3.8 million completed foreclosures across the country. Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure.
"The continuing downward trend in foreclosures and a gradual clearing of the shadow inventory are important signals that the recovery in housing is gaining traction," Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said in a statement. "The reduction in foreclosure volumes is to some degree being facilitated by the rising popularity of alternative resolution methods, such as short sales and loan modifications."
"August marks the fourth month in a row there were fewer completed foreclosures, which is more evidence that the housing industry is finding its footing," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "While we are seeing improvement on a national level, there remain higher concentrations of foreclosures in some areas with five states accounting for nearly half of all completed foreclosures nationwide during the last year."
The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in August were: California (110,000), Florida (92,000), Michigan (62,000), Texas (58,000) and Georgia (55,000). These five states account for 48.1 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.
