ATTOM Data Solutions (the parent of RealtyTrac) did not release a May Foreclosure Market report this month but they did update the data on their site so let’s take a look at what it tells us about Chicago foreclosure activity. I’ve updated the graph below with their data and it shows that May had the lowest level of total activity in 16 months.
However, not all of the individual components could make the same claim. While the auction activity was the second lowest in 16 months defaults and bank repossessions were not all that low. And, actually, from the standpoint of “let’s get this problem behind us” it’s not good that defaults are not lower and that auction activity is not higher. That means that new foreclosures are still entering the pipeline at a pretty fast clip while not exiting all that fast.
Chicago Shadow Inventory
Nevertheless, the ultimate measure of how well we are putting this problem behind us is the level of shadow inventory and I track that in the graph below. We put a significant dent in this number in May, with the biggest decline in 5 months – 469 units. In fact, we might even drop below the symbolic level of 10,000 next month. Compare that to the 37,626 units that we had in the pipeline in February 2013 when I first started to collect this data.
#Foreclosures #ChicagoForeclosures
Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service discount real estate brokerage. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market, get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry, or you just think he’s the next Kurt Vonnegut you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.