Foreclosure rates continue decline

For the eighth consecutive month, foreclosure rates in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor declined in May compared with the same month of 2013 as the housing market continues to recover.

The rate of Cedar Rapids area foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans was 1.09 percent for May, a decline of 0.78 percent compared with 1.87 percent in May 2013, according to CoreLogic of Irvine, Calif.

Foreclosure activity in Cedar Rapids also was lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 1.73 percent in May. That compares with 2.61 percent in the same month last year.

CoreLogic data showed 2.72 percent of Cedar Rapids mortgage loans were 90 days or more delinquent in May, compared with 3.23 percent for the same period last year.

The rate of Iowa City area foreclosures was 0.63 percent in May, a decrease of 0.33 percent compared with May 2013 when the rate was 0.96 percent.

Data showed 1.47 percent of mortgage loans in Iowa City were 90 days or more delinquent in May, compared with 1.72 percent for the same period last year.

CoreLogic said there were 47,000 completed foreclosures nationally, down from 52,000 in May 2013 - a year-over-year decrease of 9.4 percent. Before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month between 2000 and 2006.

Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been some 5 million completed foreclosures across the country.