06 Aug
Posted by Julia Redstone as Foreclosure Homes

In Illinois State the largest city is Chicago. The metropolitan area of Chicago hugs Lake Michigan. Chicago is an alpha city of the world – a major hub for transportation and telecommunications. The O’Hare International airport of Chicago is the second busiest in the world. It is an important centre for finance, business and industry. It is also noted for being the stronghold of the Democratic Party. The city has been estimated to have the best balanced economy in the country because of its diversification levels. MasterCard has ranked it the fourth highest business hub in the world.
With such a sunny economic climate it is difficult to understand the increase of Foreclosure homes in Chicago. Some say demography is a determining factor in the selling of sub-prime mortgages to minority communities. In Chicago 39% are Whites while the Blacks comprise of 36%.
The heightened foreclosure activity in Illinois has resulted in the spiking of Foreclosure homes in Chicago. They have been stretching from the city to Cook and Kane County. The pace of foreclosures has been rapidly increasing. The number of Foreclosure homes in Chicago has made the city one of the top five cities with the maximum number of foreclosure concentrations.
There were 6.200 Foreclosure homes in Chicago showing a new filing for each set of 466 houses. This is double the average of the country. In the first quarter of 2009 there were 22,121 foreclosure in Illinois. This has placed Illinois 12th in the rankings.
Foreclosure homes in Chicago however mean great opportunities for many – especially those who will be building their nests for the first time. The government is extending tax benefits and mortgage loan interests have never been so cheap. Optimism is being generated with a modest increase in sales and rise in the median prices in comparison to the previous month of March 2009. The real estate agents are sounding upbeat once again. Mark Zipperer of Re/Max Edge said, “I’m so thankful. It’s like after a drought, it’s raining. Not only did I have a lot of people sitting in my car [last weekend] but one of my oldest listings sold.”
In the last couple of weeks there has been a heady scent of sales in the air. For the first time since June the median price across Illinois increased in comparison to the previous month. Suburban counties too saw increase in sales.