Rockford foreclosures among highest in the state

Jim Hagerty, Staff Writer

According to the Calif.-based real estate tracking company, RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings in Rockford have increased by 15 percent for the first half of the year. In the metro Rockford area, which RealtyTrac has included with Rock Island, Moline and Davenport, Iowa, filings have seen a 40 percent rise.

Yesterday’s (Thursday, July 30) report indicates Chicago, including Naperville and Joliet, charted the highest foreclosure rate in the state, with one every 59 homes seeing the first stages of foreclosure from Jan. 1 through June.

Unlike the fist wave of foreclosures, largely the result of the subprime mortgage crash and other lending woes, the current increase is being blamed on rising unemployment rates and lack of consumer spending.

While some lenders are still restructuring existing risky home loans instead of foreclosing, more homeowners are choosing to downsize or simply walk away from properties job losses have left them unable to afford.