Chicago home foreclosures jump 57% in April

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

Foreclosures on Chicago-area homes spiked 57% in April while the national rate moved in the opposite direction.

There were 6,102 residential properties in the 14-county area that were in some stage of the foreclosure process in April, according to figures compiled by RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif. That was higher than March's figures and the third straight month of increases for the Chicago area.

The nationwide foreclosure rate for April was 10% lower than March. In Illinois,, the April rate was 40% higher than March.

"Part of last month's increase may be due to improvements we'’ve made to our data collection methods in the Chicago area," James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac said in a statement. "But it'’s apparent that the higher numbers in April reflect a substantial upsurge in the area's foreclosures. This has raised the area'’s foreclosure rate to more than twice the national average and second highest among the nation'’s top five metro areas."


Chicago'’s foreclosure rate was higher than Philadelphia, Los Angeles and New York, but lower than Dallas-Fort Worth.

It doesn't make it any easier when an area is losing population,like the Chicago area.Our guess is the adjustable rate mortgages are causing great liquidity problems for many marginal home buyers with little equity.If mortgage rates go 50 basis points higher, we could see an even bigger foreclosure numbers.