Approximately 2.5 million consumers are rejoining the housing market this year, according to a new study from Experian.

During the downturn and subsequent recession, many consumers tacked foreclosures, short sales and/or bankruptcies onto their credit report, where they remained for seven years. Between June 2016 and June 2017, 2.5 million consumers will have had those items fall off their credit score, according to Experian.

And among those consumers, 68 percent are now scoring in near-prime or higher credit segments, and it is likely that they will be qualified and looking for new homes. For the foreclosure population, credit scores are up 20.8 percent, and for the short sale population, credit scores are up by 16.5 percent.

“With millions of borrowers potentially coming back into the housing market, the trends that we’re seeing are promising for both the mortgage seeker and the lender,” said Michele Raneri, vice president of analytics and new business development at Experian. “In the coming years, boomerang borrowers will be a critical segment of the real-estate market.”

The short sale and foreclosure marketplace

Here is how the short sale and foreclosure markets broke down, according to Experian:

Short Sale

• Almost 29 percent of the short sold population between 2007-2010 have opened a new mortgage.
• Only 1.5 percent of the short sale group is delinquent on their mortgage, which is below the national average of 2.8 percent.
• Boomerang borrowers from the short sale group are doing well in making their auto loan payments on time. Only 1.2 percent of this group showed delinquency on auto loans, which is 1 percentage point lower the national average (2.2 percent).

Foreclosed

• More than 12 percent of the foreclosed group have opened up a new mortgage and showed positive signs in credit management.
• Just 3 percent of the foreclosed group are delinquent on their mortgage.
• Like the short-sale group, foreclosed boomerang borrowers are below the national average (2.2 percent) when it comes to their delinquency rates at 1.9 percent on auto loans.