Higher Chicago Foreclosure Activity
Not A Problem
By Gary Lucido
I
' m going to stay out on this limb that I crawled out on but apparently I ' m not alone out there . According to ATTOM Data Solutions February Foreclosure Market Report the nation saw a 129 % increase in foreclosure activity from a year ago . However , that percentage is kinda meaningless given that foreclosures were basically shut down last year .
The graph below puts this dynamic in perspective for Chicago where there was a 328 % increase over last year and a 29 % increase over January . As you can see activity is probably no higher than it would have been had the pandemic never happened . As Rick Sharga , former executive vice president at RealtyTrac , which is owned by ATTOM , said :
This isn ’ t an indication of economic turmoil , or of weakness in the housing market ; it ’ s simply the gradual return to normal levels of foreclosure activity after two years of artificially low numbers due to government and industry efforts to protect financiallyimpacted homeowners from defaulting .
In this foreclosure report both the Chicago metro area and Illinois got honorable mention for being among the top 5 metro areas and states respectively with high foreclosure rates . Of course , that ' s because the rest of the country ' s housing markets are so strong right now .
After a dramatic plunge following the pandemic foreclosure moratorium Chicago foreclosure activity has just now begun to resurge now that the moratorium has ended .
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