This morning’s January Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac may technically show an increase in overall foreclosure activity for Chicago but when you look at the detail the trend is actually down. Auction activity has recently been on the increase but that’s because the backlog of properties in the the foreclosure process is being cleared through the auction block. But when you look at the defaults the trend is unmistakably down – and defaults are at the front end of the foreclosure pipeline. In other words the pipeline is getting thinner.
And when you look at where we’ve come since last January it’s clear that things are better. Even the overall activity is down 35% in the last year. As for the one month change…I don’t even like to look at it, given the huge volatility in those numbers.

At the national level the report noted that “January marked the 40th consecutive month where U.S. foreclosure activity declined on an annual basis, but the annual decline of 18 percent was the smallest annual decline since September 2012”

Chicago Shadow Inventory

As  you can plainly see in the graph below the number of homes in Chicago that are in foreclosure is on a steady decline. it continues the decline at about 1,000 units per month.

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