Illinois Foreclosures on the rise

8 April 2008

Author: admin Posted under Foreclosure homes

Illinois foreclosures have certainly ripped apart the real estate and housing market in 2007. There has been a increase in the number of Illinois foreclosure homes since 2006 and it is expected to remain the same in 2008. Most of these foreclosed homes are being auctioned by the banks or lenders to investors. Although this may look like a good investment option but the fact the matter is that there are more homes put up on the foreclosure lists as against the number of buyers available.

In the first quarter of 2007, the signs of foreclosure were clear enough as the foreclosure rate rose to 62%. This also puts in the front gear the fact that the subprime mortgages are responsible for this sudden increase in the number of Illinois foreclosures. The rate of foreclosure for the year was one per 221 homes and there were 22,121 bank foreclosures for sale by the end of 2007. There was major contribution from Chicago followed by Bloomington, Arlington Heights, Kankakee, Springfield, Hamilton and Champaign among others.

These figures have taken Illinois to the 12th rank in the list of U.S. States with the maximum number of foreclosed properties. Chicago has a foreclosure rate of one per 163 homes and was ranked 28th among the top cities with high rate of real estate foreclosures. The point of concern is that Illinois was among the 37 states that saw a rise in the number of Illinois foreclosure homes and was 35.4% over the national average.

Housing consumers believe that the main culprit behind this is the subprime mortgages but the problem is that there is no stopping as more and more homebuyers are falling into this trap everyday. If this carries on for some more time then Illinois will see a explosion in foreclosures, which might be disastrous for the economy of the state.