RealtyTrac’s Midyear 2014 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report found that foreclosure filings during the first half of the year fell 23 percent from the first half of 2013. The drop brought foreclosure activity to its lowest level since the housing bubble burst in 2006. Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, said nationwide foreclosure activity reached an important milestone and, over the next six to nine months, foreclosure numbers should start to flat line at consistently historically normal levels. Blomquist warns, however, that there are a few concerning trends in some local markets that have lingering problems left over from the housing bust but believes foreclosures are no longer a widespread contagion threatening to derail the housing market’s return to health. Just nine states saw foreclosure activity increase in the first half of the year compared to a year earlier. The improvement in foreclosure activity follows a trend that has coincided with rising prices and the return of more traditional buyers and sellers to the market. More here.