RealtyTrac’s Foreclosure Market Report determined that foreclosure filings were down 28 percent year-over-year in January and 7 percent from December.
Foreclosure filings were down 28 percent year-over-year in January and 7 percent from December, according to the latest Foreclosure Market Report from research firm RealtyTrac.
In addition, U.S. foreclosure starts hit a 79-month low, decreasing 11 percent from last month and decreasing 28 percent from January of 2012.
RealtyTrac Foreclosure Market Report Findings
What else was important from the foreclosure market report?
- REOs decreased five percent from last month and decreased 24 percent from January of 2012. This has been the lowest level since February of 2008.
- Scheduled foreclosure auctions increased from last month in 26 states and Washington D.C.
- For the first time since 2007, California did not have the largest amount of foreclosure filings of any state–this year, Florida took that distinction.
- The 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates are Florida (one in every 300 housing units), Nevada (one in every 344 housing units), Illinois (one in every 375 housing units), Arizona (one in every 501 housing units), Georgia (one in every 513 housing units), Ohio (one in every 612 housing units), Washington (one in every 674 housing units), California (one in every 753 housing units), Indiana (one in every 784 housing units) and Michigan (one in every 837 housing units).
RealtyTrac included a graph in the Foreclosure Market Report, showing the decrease of foreclosure filings in January.
Foreclosure Starts at Home
Despite the fact that foreclosure starts were down on a year-to-year basis, Illinois became the state with the third-highest foreclosure rate, with a 32 percent month-over-month jump in scheduled foreclosure auctions. Rockford was the No. 4 city with the highest foreclosure rating (one in every 265 housing units with a foreclosure filing) and Chicago was No. 7 (one in every 293 housing units).
This does not mean that the Chicago market is struggling. Broker Ian Schwartz of Coldwell Banker says Chicago is a large city, and some areas have a high foreclosure rate, but many areas are thriving. He is seeing very few foreclosures in the Chicago market he works in (the Lincoln Park area).
“I’m seeing the exact opposite,” he said, commenting on these findings. “The area I work in is a very active, vibrant market.”
So despite the reported high foreclosure rate, it appears as though Chicago is doing well in the real estate market.