The number of homes seized by lenders tumbled in October, while fewer properties were in the foreclosure process in another sign of improvement for the sector, data analysis firm CoreLogic said on Monday.

There were 58,000 completed foreclosures in October, down from 77,000 in September and 70,000 seen a year ago, according to a report from CoreLogic.

September's figure was upwardly revised from 57,000.

In the years before the housing market's collapse, between 2000 and 2006 an average 21,000 foreclosures were completed a month, the report said. There have been about 3.9 million foreclosures since the epicenter of the financial crisis in September 2008.

The housing market appears to have turned the corner this year with prices rising nationally, and the sector is expected to contribute to broader economic growth for the first time since 2005.

About 1.3 million homes were in some stage of foreclosure in October, down 1.3 percent from the month before. That accounts for about 3.2 percent of all mortgages.

"This is good news for housing markets as we look forward to 2013," Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic, said in a statement.

In the 12 months ending in October, five states accounted for nearly half of all completed foreclosures in the country. California took the top spot with 105,000 homes seized in the last year, followed by Florida, Michigan, Texas and Georgia.