According to analysis from one real estate data collection company, foreclosures can be expected to rise in 2012, but the worst of the recession and sluggish economy is over. RealtyTrac recently released a new report showing that in the Chicago metropolitan area, foreclosure filings fell 7.6 percent in December 2011 when compared to December 2010. The foreclosure process slowed a little from November because of documentation issues across the country.

The resolution of those slowed foreclosure proceedings are expected to increase foreclosures in 2012. A spokesman from RealtyTrac said that foreclosures were deceptively low in 2011 because so many foreclosures were delayed due to those documentation issues. As those issues are resolved, there should be an increase in foreclosures. However, numbers should not surpass those from the worst of the recession.

In the Chicago area, 12,075 homes received foreclosure filings in December. That is a 0.09 percent increase from November, when there were 12,064 foreclosure filings. One in every 313 homes in the Chicago area received a foreclosure filing in December.

In all of Illinois, 12,639 homes received foreclosure filings in December, a 1.9 percent increase from the month before, but down 10 percent from the previous December.

Within the United States, Illinois ranked eighth highest in foreclosure numbers. One in every 51 homes received a foreclosure filing in 2011. That is 103,003 foreclosure filings in the state. Compared to the year with the highest number of foreclosure filings in the current cycle, that is 31.9 percent fewer. The peak year was 2010, which had 151,304 foreclosure filings. The vast majority, 138,913, were in the Chicago area. That decreased 30.6 percent from the peak year to 96,458 foreclosure filings in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Though the worst is over, RealtyTrac expects foreclosures to remain prominent for a few years while they work their way through the system.

Source: Chicago Sun-Times, "Foreclosures forecast to rise this year, but worst is behind us," Jan. 12 2012