Nearly 2 percent of all homes with a mortgage in Massachusetts were in the foreclosure inventory as of December, beating the nation’s 3.4 percent figure, according to a new report from California data firm CoreLogic.

Nationally, 1.4 million homes, or 3.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage, were in the foreclosure inventory as of December. Nationally, the number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased 8.4 percent in December 2011 compared to December 2010, a decline of 130,000 properties nationwide.

The foreclosure inventory is the stock of homes in the foreclosure process. A property moves into the foreclosure inventory when the mortgage servicer places the property into the foreclosure process after serious delinquency is reached, and remains there until the foreclosure is completed. The foreclosure inventory is measured only against homes with an outstanding mortgage, rather than against all homes. Nationwide, roughly one-third of homeowners own their homes outright.

CoreLogic’s first national Foreclosure Report provides monthly data on completed foreclosures, foreclosure inventory and 90+ delinquency rates. In all of 2011, the report found there were 830,000 completed foreclosures, compared with 1.1 million in 2010. The December 2011 completed foreclosures figure was also down from one year ago when it stood at 67,000. From the start of the financial crisis in September 2008, there have been approximately 3.2 million completed foreclosures.

The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported last week that the number of completed foreclosures in Massachusetts dropped by more than 30 percent in 2011 to 8,528, down from 12,238 in 2010.

The share of borrowers nationally that were 90 days or more delinquent on their mortgage payments, classified as seriously delinquent, improved to 7.3 percent in December 2011. In the Bay State, 5.7 percent of borrowers were 90 days or more delinquent on their mortgage payments.

"The inventory of foreclosed properties has begun to shrink, and the pace at which properties are entering foreclosure is slowing. While foreclosure filings are being curtailed by a variety of judicial and regulatory constraints, mortgage servicers are completing REO sales faster than they are completing foreclosures," said Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. "This is the first time in a year that REO sales have outpaced completed foreclosures, and part of the reason for the decrease in the foreclosure inventory."

The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory were: Florida (11.9 percent), New Jersey (6.4 percent), Illinois (5.4 percent), Nevada (5.3 percent) and New York (4.6 percent).

The five states with the lowest foreclosure inventory were: Wyoming (0.7 percent), Alaska (0.8 percent), North Dakota (0.8 percent), Nebraska (1.0 percent) and Washington (1.3 percent).