Home foreclosures down in December

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Home foreclosures across the United States declined in December, extending a critical component of the housing recovery, a mortgage tracking firm said.

The 19.5 percent decline in foreclosures, since December 2011, will lead to a faster recovery in 2013, and fewer repossessed homes on the market could lead to higher real estate prices, the Los Angeles Times said Friday.

"The most encouraging foreclosure trend reported here is that the inventory of foreclosed properties is almost 20 percent smaller than a year ago. We are working toward resolving the backlog," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic of Irvine, Calif., the mortgage tracking firm that released the data.