16 percent of Q3 Ill. home sales were foreclosures

Sixteen percent of homes sold in Illinois in the third quarter of 2011 were in foreclosure or owned by a bank.

That’s according to a report released Thursday by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. The company says the total number of foreclosures sold from July through September last year was 6,537 and the average sale price was $133,121.

The number of foreclosure sales dropped almost 20 percent from the third quarter of 2010 because of paperwork processing problems that delayed many foreclosures.

Nationally, foreclosure homes accounted for 20 percent of all residential sales in that same period.

The highest percentage of foreclosure sales were in Nevada, California and Arizona.

RealtyTrac says foreclosures continue to be an excellent bargain for many people.