Foreclosures At Seven Year Low

According to a foreclosure lawyer , foreclosure starts – the measure by which many industry professionals measure the status of the market – are down by nearly 40% from last year’s numbers. That is a very good sign both for the long-suffering housing market, and for the individual homeowner; the latter being less and less likely to be faced with the looming prospect of losing their home.

What Foreclosure Rate Means

Foreclosure starts are a measure of when the lender begins a proceeding against a delinquent homeowner, and are a good indicator of the state of the housing market, says the foreclosure lawyer. The sharp decline in these starts is promising news: more people are able to make their mortgage payments and are not falling into debt.

Completed foreclosures are also at lower rates, says the foreclosure lawyer. The amount of these in the U.S. this year is estimated at about half a million nationwide, which may seem like a high number until you consider that in 2010, just three years ago, it was well over one million.

In other words, says the foreclosure lawyer, the numbers still aren’t all roses, but they are markers of the slow and steady recovery that the housing market appears to be making from its dramatic crash. Barring other economic factors – such as potential fallout from the government shutdown or a failure to raise the debt ceiling – the foreclosure lawyer suspects that the market will continue to see gradual improvement in the coming fiscal quarters.