Chicago Joins Northern Areas of Greater Foreclosures

Unfortunately, Chicago has received the dubious honor of having the largest inventory of bank-owned foreclosure properties on the market in April, according to RealtyTrac. This is just part of a wider movement of the foreclosure plague, on which real estate expert Steve Cook offers insight in the recent Equifax Finance Blog Post, “Foreclosures Move North to Changing Markets.”

Midwest and Northeastern areas are where foreclosures are clustering. Kansas City posted the highest foreclosure discount in April and New Jersey posted the highest rise in foreclosures for the same time period. Eleven of the nation’s 20 largest metro areas that posted increased foreclosures were in the East or Midwest.

Some of the shift can be explained by the fact that many of the areas with historically high foreclosure rates are starting to heal, so the numbers simply look worse in comparison. Many of the areas that are closer to stabilization or healing were hit harder and are slowly making their way toward rebounding.

Another reason for the shift is that the foreclosure moratorium that was imposed during the robo-signing scandal is starting to come undone. This means a huge backlog of foreclosures is now filtering down to the market. And while these foreclosures are arriving at a time when new buyers are eagerly searching for homes, homeowners trying to sell their existing homes are having trouble competing with the low prices on foreclosures.

For more information about foreclosures and real estate, as well as personal finance advice, consult the Equifax Finance Blog.