Add Chicago foreclosure activity to the list of things that the Covid-19 pandemic is screwing up. On the surface it might seem pretty cool that all three components of April foreclosure activity were down 80%+ from last year. However, the reality is that this is nothing more than the result of the government mandated moratorium on foreclosures on federally backed mortgages which is designed to keep millions from slipping into foreclosure through no fault of their own. Once that moratorium ends all hell is going to break loose because a few of those 40 MM unemployed are going to have trouble paying their mortgages. Who knows where we will end up.

ATTOM Data Solutions updated their RealtyTrac data last week and also issued their April Foreclosure Market Report. I’ve incorporated the most recent RealtyTrac data in my graph below. You can see how dramatic the decline in activity is.

Chicago foreclosure activity plunged to unheard of record lows in the wake of pandemic policies aimed at softening the economic blow to struggling homeowners.

Illinois managed to maintain it’s position as having the third highest foreclosure rate in the nation.

Chicago Shadow Inventory

In light of the difficulty in interpreting foreclosure activity tracking the number of homes in foreclosure will probably prove to be more useful than ever. That shadow inventory decline by another 205 units in April. You can see the long term trend line in the graph below.

Chicago’s shadow inventory of homes in foreclosure is less than 1/8 of what it once was.

#Foreclosures #ChicagoForeclosures

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry 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.