A real estate research firm reported today that 63,000 foreclosures were completed in May, slightly up from 62,000 in April but down from 77,000 in May 2011.

Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 3.6 million completed foreclosures across the country. California, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Texas accounted for 48.8 percent of all foreclosures in the year ending in May.

During that period, lenders on average completed foreclosures on 2,440 mortgages every day, CoreLogic said in a news release. The foreclosure rate has held steady at 2.2 percent of all outstanding mortgages over the last year, with lenders seizing 3,844 homes, CoreLogic said.