FORECLOSURES ACROSS U.S. JUMP IN JANUARY, but Chicago Foreclosures Drop!
CITY OF CHICAGO FORECLOSURES SLIDE 8%, COOK COUNTY FILINGS FLAT!
According to Realty Trac, the Irvine, CA firm that compiles foreclosure statistics nationwide, foreclosures jumped 57% across the U.S. last mpnth, compared to a year ago. In total, 233,001 homes received foreclosure notices last month, compared to 148,425 in January, 2007. Last month, on average, one foreclosure was filed for every 534 homes nationwide.
Foreclosure-leading metro markets include Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL, Stockton, CA, and Riverside-San Bernardino, CA. Warm-weather states such as Nevada and Arizona are in the Top 10 States for new foreclosure filings. The State of Illinois is 17th nationally.
According to the Illinois Foreclosure Listing Service, a mortgage data research firm based here in Chicago, foreclosures in the City of Chicago actually fell 8 percent last month. T. J. McKinney, a spokesman for the IFLC, felt the reason for the drop is hard to explain, "but possible factors may include the holiday court schedule delaying filings by attorneys, lenders working more diligently with homeowners to postpone foreclosures or the gradual tightening of lending standards that began in late 2006 and early 2007."
Several collar counties around Chicago also showed improvement in foreclosure filing statistics. Cook County filings were virtually unchanged from January, 2007 levels. Will County, south and west of Chicago, experienced a 40% drop in filings year-to-year. Foreclosures fell 7% in Kane County, and 36% in McHenry County. Foreclosure filings did increase in DuPage County - up 22% since last year. Ex-urban Kendall County, one of the fastest-growing counties around Chicago, but 40 miles west of downtown, suffered a 78% increase in foreclosure filings from January, 2007 to January, 2008.
For more info, and a link to RealtyTrac national foreclosure data, read Alex Viega and Mary Umberger's article in the February 26th edition of The Chicago Tribune.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
