Far fewer Maryland homes are entering foreclosure this year

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BasicGov, Flickr

Nationally, 1.6 percent of homes on the market are foreclosed homes.

Kevin Litten

Reporter- Baltimore Business Journal

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The number of homes entering foreclosure in Maryland has fallen significantly in the last year, dropping 29 percent since September 2013, according to a CoreLogic report released Wednesday.

Just 2.3 percent of all homes in Maryland are entering foreclosure, the report said. The number of completed foreclosures on homes is falling as well, dropping from 9,873 in September 2013 to 7,199 in September 2014, Corelogic found.

Nationally, 1.6 percent of homes on the market are foreclosed homes.

"Although the foreclosure inventory and rates of serious delinquent loans remain elevated in many states, progress is being made," CoreLogic CEO Anand Nallathambi said in a statement. "This bodes well for a better housing market in 2015 and beyond."

Maryland ranked 10th for the number of completed foreclosures, which is the main indicator for how many homes will enter the for-sale market. The state came in just behind New York and New Jersey; Florida remains in first place for the number of completed foreclosures.

When it comes to major metro areas, the Baltimore region ranked 17th for completed foreclosures, with 3,605, just behind the Washington, D.C. area's 3,687 completed foreclosures. About 6.2 percent of mortgages in the Baltimore region are considered "seriously delinquent" compared to a 3.7 percent delinquency rate in D.C.

Nationally, the delinquency rate is 4.2 percent.

The ranking included only states that were part of a judicial settlement that forced banks to rework foreclosure filings and delayed the court process.

Kevin Litten covers Commercial Real Estate and Economic Development