Foreclosure filings in Arizona were down year-to-year, for the 23rd consecutive month, in October. Statistics released on Thursday by the home data provider RealtyTrac showed a decline of more than 60 percent from September and nearly 55 percent from Oct. 2012. 

RealtyTrac Vice President Darren Blomquist said it is likely the state’s housing market will be back to a normal foreclosure rate by the first quarter of next year, but he said 27 percent of the state’s homeowners remain underwater on their mortgages, and correcting that will likely take longer.

"Our best estimate on that would probably be about the end of 2015, before we see that number back to normal. Normal level less than 5 percent, which is sooner than the rest of the country," Blomquist said. "The rest of the country it's probably gonna take a couple more years."

Blomquist said the third element of a housing recovery is reducing the number of homes being purchased by institutional investors, those who buy more than 10 homes in a year. That figure was 20 percent in 2012. Blomquist said it is now between 10 percent and 15 percent.