Chicago Area #2 in Repossessed Homes

Gotta Love It!  Chicago # 1 in political corruption and # 2 in home repossessions.

Lenders took back 45,555 properties here in 2010, a 20% increase from 2009, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc., an online listing service for distressed real estate. Only the Phoenix area had more repossessions, with 55,372. Detroit ranked third, followed by Miami and Atlanta.
Lenders filed 138,913 foreclosure-related notices last year on Chicago-area properties, a 16.1% increase from 2009 and more than three times the number of filings in 2006.
Nationally, filings rose 1.7% from 2009 in the 206 metro areas with populations of 200,000 or more, RealtyTrac said.

One out of every 27 properties in the Chicago area received a foreclosure notice in 2010, the 35th-highest rate among the 206 metro areas. Nationally, one out of every 45 properties received a foreclosure filing.
High unemployment and falling real estate prices have fueled the rise in foreclosure filings, and experts expect rates to jump even higher in 2011 in part because of the controversy last fall over the alleged mishandling of foreclosure documents. Many lenders and loan servicers delayed new cases while they examined their procedures, pushing many suits into this year.

“I would expect the first part of 2011 to be higher than anticipated,” says Geoff Smith, a senior vice-president at Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based advocacy group. “I think the numbers (in 2010) would have been higher.”

Foreclosure-related filings rose last year in 149 of the 206 metro areas RealtyTrac monitors. Las Vegas still leads the nation with the highest foreclosure rate; one out of every nine properties in the area received a foreclosure notice in 2010.

Dick Barr of Goldtree Realty is a licensed Broker and has been an REO/Foreclosure specialist  in the Chicagoland area since 2004. In addition to specializing in foreclosures throughout the Chicagoland area, Dick has also purchased for investor clients properties all over the midwest, in cities such as Milwaukee, WI; South Bend, IN; Cincinnati, OH; Indianapolis, IN; Memphis, TN; Kansas City, MO and others.

If you would like more information about the foreclosure buying process, you may contact Dick at his office in Skokie, IL at 847-674-4445.  You can also visit him on the web at www.ForecloseChicago.com, or you can email him at DickBarr@ForecloseChicago.com.  Dick has a team of agents who are ready, willing and able to help you with your home buying or real estate investment needs.