Foreclosure Pace Has Increased in Affluent Towns

The Woodstock Institute says that foreclosure notices have gone up in 50 per cent of the affluent neighborhoods in the third quarter. The crisis continued to affect the higher and middle income groups. In the lower income group, there are fewer foreclosures to be reported about now, said the vice president of the Woodstock Institute, Geoff Smith.

In Highland Park and Glenview, there was a dip in foreclosures in early 2009. However, both the regions were hit hard in the middle half of the year. In Highland Park, foreclosures had increased by 97 per cent, while in Glenview it was up by 78 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Banks have also started foreclosure activities on 117 homes. This is slightly less than what it was in 2008 – 121 filings.

In Park Ridge, there was a 85 per cent increase in foreclosures in the third half. There have been 137 foreclosures in Park Ridge as compared to 140 in 2008. In the north, foreclosures had increased by 32 per cent in the latter half. A similar pattern could be noticed in northwest where there was a rise of 28 per cent in foreclosures.

The Cook County suburbs showed an increase in foreclosures too, although the figure was negligible. Foreclosures in Oak Park had also increased by 6 per cent in the last four months as compared to the corresponding period of last year. In 2009, there were 136 foreclosures and last year, the figure stood at 205.