The latest figures show the number of home foreclosures in Valley continues to go down, and analysts say the area has been able to ride out the worst wave. From Phoenix, KJZZ’s Steve Goldstein reports.

STEVE GOLDSTEIN: The newest figures from ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business show the rate of foreclosures in the Phoenix market dropped from 39 percent in 2010 to 34 percent in 2011.  And by the end of last year, the amount of monthly foreclosures as a percentage of sales had dropped to 29 percent.  When 2011 started, that figure was 43 percent. Mike Orr, the new head of ASU’s Real Estate Center, says the Valley is actually in relatively good shape compared to other areas of the country.

MIKE ORR: States that have judicial foreclosures where the lender has to go to court to get a judge to approve, it takes a lot longer.  Therefore, they’re likely to be in the foreclosure wave much longer.  They didn’t get affected as much because their prices didn’t go down as far as we did in Phoenix.  We had a huge hit very early on.

STEVE GOLDSTEIN: And with fewer foreclosures on the market, some parts of the Valley are starting to see home prices increasing again—at least slightly.