Foreclosures up again in Illinois during February

Illinois maintained its dubious distinction of ranking No. 8 nationwide with the most foreclosures among all 50 states, increasing about 22 percent in February compared to a year ago, according to a report released today by online research firm, RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif.

High unemployment and declining home prices continued to fuel the rising foreclosure rate statewide, said RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist.

"Unemployment is just one of the reasons Illinois was hit hard," said Blomquist. "Another is the fact that many people are under water (with home values) and it's less likely those people will fight for their homes."

Illinois continues to see layoffs in many of its business sectors statewide, which was clear in this week's report of the 11.3 percent unemployment rate for January, up from 11 percent in December.

Nationwide, foreclosure filings - including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions - were reported on 308,524 U.S. properties in February, down about 2 percent from the previous month but 6 percent higher than a year ago.

Illinois had another distinction of having 17,312 properties the subject of filings, the fourth-highest total nationwide.

California led the way with 68,562 properties in the foreclosure process, which actually showed a decrease of 5 percent from the previous month and was down 15 percent from a year ago, the report said.