Arizona and California are no longer the foreclosure laughingstocks of the nation, according to USA Today reporter Tim Mullaney.

In fact, the sand states recently staged an amazing recovery on the foreclosure front. In his USA Today update, Mullaney writes:

In states hit hardest by the housing bust — Arizona, California, Nevada and Florida — Fannie Mae used to see loans go bad from one-and-a-half to an excruciating eight times as often as the national average. That's changing fast — except in Florida.

Only 7% of Fannie's 2013 credit losses come from California — home to nearly 20% of its loans and 27% of its 2011 writeoffs due to defaults and foreclosures. Arizona, with 2.4% of Fannie's outstanding balances, has seen its share of credit losses plunge to 1.8% in the first half of this year, from nearly 12% in 2011.