Foreclosures Fall In First Half Of Year In Chicago

Some Good News Chicago...even if temporary in nature.

Foreclosures dropped significantly in the first half of this year according to Woodstock Institute.

Chicago region saw 8,515 foreclosure cases completed at auction in the first half of 2011, a 50.9% decline from the first half of 2010, according to data released Thursday by the Chicago-based Woodstock Institute.  The Chicago region is the six-county of Northern Illinois.

The temporary nature of the drop seems to be due to longer processing times, with the foreclosure process at 359 days in Q2 2011, 25.5% longer than cases completed in Q2 2010 and 50.8% longer than cases completed in Q2 2008, according to Woodstock.

“A prolonged foreclosure process cuts both ways. It means that vacant homes in foreclosure have more time to become blighted and destabilize neighborhoods,” Sarah Duda, senior research and project associate at Woodstock Institute, said in a statement. “If a family is still in the home, however, the longer process could give them more time to negotiate a solution with their loan servicer."

The full report can be viewed at: http://www.woodstockinst.org/publications/foreclosure-updates/

then click on First Half of 2011 Foreclosures

Michael Hobbs, PahRoo Appraisal & Consultancy