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IRVINE, CA-The current national residential shadow inventory as of October 2012 fell to 2.3 million units, a 12.3% drop from October 2011, when shadow inventory stood at 2.6 million units, according to a report from CoreLogic, a provider of information, analytics and business services here. This inventory continues to “shrink from peak levels in terms of numbers of units and the dollars they represent,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, in a prepared statement.

Nallathambi said he expects a gradual and progressive contraction in the shadow inventory in 2013 as investors continue to snap up foreclosed and REO properties and the broader recovery in housing market fundamentals takes hold. In addition, “Given the long foreclosed timelines in many states, the current shadow inventory stock represents little immediate threat to a significant swing in housing-market supply,” said Mark Fleming, CoreLogic's chief economist, in the statement. “Investor demand will help to absorb the already foreclosed and REO properties in the shadow inventory in 2013.”

As GlobeSt.com previously reported, more Millennials, a.k.a. Echo Boomers, entering the market should help boost housing fundamentals, Jeff Meyers, president of Meyers Research, told GlobeSt.com in November 2012. “This demographic of 95 million is obviously important because they are transitioning into the workforce, and detached shadow inventory is not competitive for this young cohort.”

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*Charts courtesy of CoreLogic

For the complete report, click here.