I recently wrote that with home prices on the rise and the economy on the mend, the foreclosure crisis in Minnesota was nearing its end, and today there's more evidence that fewer Minnesota homeowners are headed towards that terrible fate. The Minnesota Homeownership Center issued a new report that says the number of preforeclosure notices sent during the first quarter fell 41 percent compared with last year. Though foreclosures are still happening all too often in Minnesota and beyond, the decline in notices is important because it's an indicator of how many houses will end up being sold at sheriff's sales.

Here's a graphic look at what happened: