Foreclosure inventory declined 29.1 percent and completed foreclosures declined 16.5 percent compared with July 2015, according to a report released today from CoreLogic, a global property information provider. The number of completed foreclosures nationwide was also down 6.8 percent year over year from 41,000 in July 2015 to 34,000 in July 2016.

The foreclosure inventory represents the number of homes at some stage of the foreclosure process and completed foreclosures reflect the total number of homes lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 6.4 million completed foreclosures nationally, and since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, there have been approximately 8.5 million homes lost to foreclosure.

As of July 2016, the national foreclosure inventory included approximately 355,000, or 0.9 percent, of all homes with a mortgage compared with 501,000 homes, or 1.3 percent, in July 2015. The July 2016 foreclosure inventory rate is the lowest for any month since August 2007.

CoreLogic also reports that the number of mortgages in serious delinquency (defined as 90 days or more past due including loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 17.3 percent from July 2015 to July 2016, with 1.1 million mortgages, or 2.9 percent. The decline was geographically broad, with declines in 47 states and D.C.

“Loan modifications, foreclosures and stronger housing and labor markets have each played a role in bringing the foreclosure rate to the lowest level in nine years,” Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in a statement. “The U.S. Treasury’s Making Home Affordable program has contributed to the decline through permanent modifications, forbearance and foreclosure alternatives which have assisted 2.5 million homeowners with first mortgages at risk of foreclosure since 2009.”