Report: Illinois foreclosures dropping

Foreclosure activity seems to be slowing in Illinois and across the country, although the number of homes affected still put the state in the top 10 nationally in November, according to RealtyTrac, a marketplace for foreclosure properties.

And this could be a lull before another foreclosure storm, company officials said.

However, it seemed significant that Illinois' 7,090 notices had dropped 4 percent compared to November of 2007. It also dropped 38 percent from October, a more common trend in the country.

"We did see a big spike in October in Illinois," said Daren Blomquist, spokesman for RealtyTrac. "November was the lowest since January in Illinois."

He said unlike some states Illinois has not had any legislation that has slowed the foreclosure process, but generally lenders across the country are trying to modify mortgages so homeowners can make their payments rather than go into foreclosure.

It is too early to say that Illinois had turned the corner or that the decrease in foreclosure filings is a trend, said Blomquist.

Foreclosure activity in November nationally hit the lowest level since June, said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

As far as raw total number of homes that received a foreclosure notice, Illinois fell to eighth place nationally from fifth last month.

The 7,909 Illinois properties with some type of legal filing represented a drop of 38 percent from October and almost 4 percent from November of 2007.

Saccacio said other organizations reported that delinquencies on loans not yet in the foreclosure process jumped to a record high of nearly 7 percent in the third quarter, and more than half the homeowners who received loan modifications to create lower monthly payments in the first half of 2008 are delinquent again.