Nationwide, the foreclosure inventory declined by 25.2 percent and completed foreclosures declined by 20.1 percent compared with August 2014, according to a report from property information data provider CoreLogic.

The number of foreclosures nationwide decreased year over year from 46,000 in August 2014 to 36,000 in August 2015, representing a decrease of 68.9 percent from the peak of 117,357 completed foreclosures in September 2010.

Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 5.9 million completed foreclosures across the country. Since homeownership rates peaked in the second quarter of 2004, nearly 8 million homes have been lost to foreclosure.

As of August 2015, the national foreclosure inventory included approximately 470,000, or 1.2 percent, of all homes with a mortgage compared with 629,000 homes, or 1.6 percent, in August 2014.

The number of mortgages in serious delinquency (defined as 90 days or more past due, including those loans in foreclosure or REO) declined by 20.7 percent from August 2014 to August 2015 to 1.3 million mortgages. This is the lowest serious delinquency rate since January 2008.

The foreclosure rate (defined as the share of all loans in the foreclosure process) was at 1.2 percent as of August 2015, which is back to January 2008 levels.

Originated loans are getting foreclosed on less than so-called “legacy” loans made during the housing bubble, Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in a statement.

“Newly delinquent loans are at the lowest rates during the last two decades. That reflects the tight underwriting and improved economy during the last few years,” Nothaft said. “However, the foreclosure pipeline of legacy loans remains elevated. Over the last 12 months, there have been 500,000 completed foreclosures, more than double the number during normal periods.”