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In the month of July, 49,000 U.S. home foreclosures were completed, down from a revised total of 53,000 in June and down from 65,000 in July 2012, according to research firm CoreLogic Inc. (NYSE: CLGX). While an improvement, the number of foreclosures is still well above the 2000 to 2006 average of 21,000 foreclosures per month. CoreLogic notes that since September 2008, some 4.5 million foreclosures have been completed in the United States.

The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the past 12 months were Florida (110,000), California (65,000), Michigan (61,000), Texas (45,000) and Georgia (41,000). The five states with the fewest foreclosures in the 12 months through July were District of Columbia (141), North Dakota (484), West Virginia (505), Hawaii (512) and Maine (754).

The five states with the largest inventories of foreclosed properties are Florida (8.1%), New Jersey (5.9%), New York (4.7%), Connecticut (4%) and Maine (4%). The five states with the lowest inventories of foreclosed properties are Wyoming (0.4%), Alaska (0.6%), North Dakota (0.7%), Nebraska (0.7%) and Colorado (0.8%).

CoreLogic executives noted:

Foreclosures and delinquency rates continued their rapid descent in July. Every state posted a year-over-year decline in foreclosures and serious delinquencies fell to the lowest level since December 2008. … As the housing market continues to recover, the foreclosure inventory is declining quickly, down by 32 percent from a year ago.

The research firm also noted that about 949,000 homes were in some stage of foreclosure during July, down from 1.4 million in July 2012. CoreLogic said the foreclosure inventory in July represented 2.4% of all mortgaged homes, compared with 3.4% in July a year ago.