In the month of May, 41,000 U.S. home foreclosures were completed, up 4.1% month over month and down 19.2% from a total of 51,000 in May 2014, according to research firm CoreLogic. The firm notes that the current foreclosure inventory totals 1.3% of all homes with a mortgage in the United States, down from 1.7% in May of 2014.

The number of U.S. homes currently in some stage of foreclosure totals 491,000, compared with 676,000 in May 2014. That represents a decline in the national foreclosure inventory of 27.4% compared with May a year ago.

The four states and the District of Columbia with the largest foreclosed inventory as a percentage of mortgaged properties are New Jersey (4.9%), New York (3.7%), Florida (2.9%), Hawaii (2.5%) and D.C. (2.4%). The five states with the lowest inventories of foreclosed properties are Alaska (0.3%), Nebraska (0.4%), North Dakota (0.4%), Minnesota (0.4%) and Colorado (0.4%).

The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the past 12 months were Florida (104,000), Michigan (46,000), Texas (33,000), California (28,000) and Ohio (27,000). The five states with the fewest foreclosures in the prior 12 months through May were South Dakota (19), District of Columbia (105), North Dakota (326), Wyoming (498) and West Virginia (500).

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CoreLogic’s chief economist said:

With three million jobs created during the past year, the improving labor market has helped more borrowers stay current on their mortgage loan. Because fewer loans are becoming seriously delinquent, the foreclosure inventory has come down to its lowest level in more than seven years …

The five metropolitan areas with the largest inventories of foreclosed properties are New York City (3.8%), Tampa (3.7%), Orlando (2.6%), Chicago (1.9%) and Baltimore (1.7%).

According to CoreLogic, the current foreclosure rate of 1.3% is the lowest since December of 2007 and the foreclosure inventory has declined every month for the past 43 months.

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