Foreclosures continue to rise, yet some local counties show decreases
Home foreclosures continued to rise during June, keeping Illinois in the Top 10 and local counties with double digit increases, according to a report expected to be released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc.
The Irvine, Calif.-based online research firm said that local counties, including Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry, showed huge increases, while DuPage and Will counties actually showed decreases.
But we're not out of the woods yet, experts said.
"It's disappointing, but not surprising," said Marve Stockert, executive director of the Illinois Association of Mortgage Professionals in Lombard. "It's improving, but it's far from being over."
The RealtyTrac report said that 313,841 foreclosure filings, including default notices, auction sales notices and bank repossessions, were filed on properties nationwide during June, a decrease of 7 percent from June 2009. But Illinois rated No. 9 nationwide with 14,732 notices filed in June, a 37 percent increase compared to a year ago. That's one in every 358 housing units that went into foreclosure statewide.
Locally, Kane County showed the highest increase of 72 percent, while DuPage County was found at the other end with a decrease of nearly 13 percent in June, compared to a year ago.
"High unemployment was the main culprit," said RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist.
Many other states, like Nevada and California, were hit hard early on and now showed some improvement, but Illinois continued to show increases, the report showed.
"Homeowners in Illinois are facing price depreciation, causing their homes to be more under water," Blomquist said.
Those recession-related issues are taking a toll on the real estate market, despite the historically low mortgage rates to encourage buyers. So those facing short sales still are in danger of foreclosure because potential sales are stalled by fears of job loss and a possible double dip recession.
"As long as we have people who are worried about their jobs, or can't sell their house, then this will continue. We're at least a year away where we would see any dramatic change in the real estate market."
<img src="/graphics/0610foreclose.jpg" width="250" height="462" border="0"></a></p>
<div class="infoBox">
<h1>More Coverage</h1>
<div class="infoBoxContent">
<div class="infoArea">
<h2>Stories</h2>
<ul class="links">
<li><a href="/story/?id=394229">Homes lost to foreclosure on track for one million in 2010</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>