Will a Solid Recovery Remain Elusive?

CHICAGO—After years of waiting, a true economic recovery, which had always seemed just around the corner, now seems at least plausible. One of the recent statistics that grabbed a lot of attention was the decline in foreclosures. According to the October 2013 National Foreclosure Report by CoreLogic, a property information provider, the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure was about 879,000, or roughly 2.2% of homes with a mortgage, a decline of about 388,000 from the previous October when 3.1% of homes were in foreclosure.

“The scourge of an elevated foreclosure inventory is easing,” says Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Additionally, the rate of serious delinquencies, which fell more than 25% year over year, is at the lowest level in nearly five years, which is great news as we head into a new year.”