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FINAL TALLIES IN FROM REALTY TRAC - CHICAGO FORECLOSURES UP 53% LAST YEAR!

By
Real Estate Agent with Dean's Team - Keller Williams Realty Partners Chicago IL

Folks, there's good news, and there is bad news.

The bad news first - across the U.S., according to CA-Based Foreclosure Listing and Research Company RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings increased 81% in 2008 versus 2007.

The good news - well, a bit better news, anyway - foreclosures in the Chicago Metro Area, although showing a sizable increase - jumped less than the national aggregate.

According to data summarized by The Associated Press in last Thursday's Wall Street Journal, over 2.3 Million homeowners across the U.S. struggled with some stage of the home foreclosure process in 2008 - an 81% increase over 2007, according to a study completed by RealtyTrac, Inc.

During last year, just over 860,000 properties were repossessed by lenders, roughly double the number of bank home takeovers in 2007.

Here in the Chicago Metro Area, however, 2.49% of all properties were at some stage of the foreclosure process - a total of 77,226 foreclosure filings in Chicago and in Surrounding Suburbs last year. 

Unfortunately, according to research firm Moody's Economy.com, the trend is unlikely to end in 2009.  This year, they expect the U.S. Foreclosure Rate to increase another 18%, before coming down slightly through 2011.

The Mortgage Bankers Association feels that foreclosures will continue to rise for several more years, and will keep the U.S. Housing Market from turning positive.  The association says 2008 figures were the worst they have seen in 30 years.

Nevada, Florida, Arizona, and California had the highest rates of foreclosure last year - more than 1.1 Million homeowners in these four states received a Notice of Foreclosure in 2008 - nearly half of last year's staggering total.  One in five were in the State of California, which is struggling with heavy job losses and tumbling average home prices.

In several states, including Massachusetts, California, and Maryland, new laws require lenders give advance notice to homeowners in danger of imminent foreclosure.  These new laws may have reduced the number of foreclosures filed in  these states.  However, these laws serve to merely delay, rather than completely stop, the number of homes foreclosed on.

According to Charles Plosser, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and quoted in the same Wall Street Journal AP Article, "I expect the housing sector will finally hit bottom in 2009 and the financial markets will gradually return to some semblance of normalcy." He added that the current recession could be one of the longest in the post-World War II era.

DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO

Comments (1)

Paul Gapski
Berkshire Hathaway / Prudential Ca Realty - El Cajon, CA
619-504-8999,#1 Resource SD Relo

yes they look so nice but Foreclosures are such tough on to stomach.

Nov 15, 2011 02:14 AM