Mortgage Foreclosures Decline From Record in U.S. as Employment Improves

A reduction in defaults doesn't mean the housing crisis is coming to an end, said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. in New York. About 6.4 million home loans were either delinquent or in foreclosure in April, according to Lender Processing Services Inc., a Jacksonville, Florida-based mortgage-transaction and data firm.

"It's going to take a crazy amount of time for the process to play out, because of the sheer volume," Shapiro said in an interview. "We may see some of the numbers come down a bit, but foreclosures are going to stay very high for a prolonged period of time -- a year or two, or even more."