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Foreclosed property sales jumped 31% in Chicago area last year

ales of foreclosed properties in the Chicago metropolitan area rose 31 percent in 2012 from a year earlier to 43,178 homes while falling nationally, according to a report from RealtyTrac.

But such sales were up only 8 percent in the Chicago area from 2010.Last year, foreclosure sales accounted for 31 percent of all sales in the Chicago area, up slightly from 30 percent of all sales in 2011.

The average sales price was $130,972, down 3 percent from 2011 and down 8 percent from 2010, RealtyTrac said.

The average discount on foreclosed property sales was 46 percent.

Statewide, sales of foreclosed properties rose 30 percent in 2012 to 44,337 and were up 6 percent from 2010. The average price was $127,878, down 3 percent. The average discount was 41 percent.Non-foreclosure short sales rose 18 percent in Illinois from 2011, and the average amount short was $84,511.

Nationally, foreclosure sales fell 6 percent in 2012 from 2011 to 947,995 and dropped 11 percent from 2010. They accounted for 21 percent of all sales last year, down from 23 percent in 2011.

The average sales price in 2012 was $167,146, up 2 percent; and the average discount was 31 percent.

Sales of bank-owned, or so-called real estate owned properties, rose in 26 states and outnumbered pre-foreclosure sales in 38 states, including Illinois. Illinois was among states with the biggest increases in bank-owned sales, up 19 percent.

Illinois also was among states with the biggest distressed sales share with nearly half of all sales distressed sales.

A report released by RealtyTrac earlier this month ranked Illinois as having the third highest foreclosure rate in the country in January and revealed scheduled foreclosure auctions in the state spiked 32 percent since December 2012 and rose 14 percent year-over-year to 5,241 ­— a 29 month high.

Illinois is among states that require foreclosure filings to go through court, which has slowed the process and created a backlog. Also, the housing crisis hit later here than other parts of the country, and recovery has lagged as unemployment has remained high.

RealtyTrac’s latest report showed sales of distressed homes accounted for more than 50 percent of all sales in Arizona, California, Georgia and Florida, exceeded 60 percent in Michigan and exceeded 70 percent in Nevada.

“Distressed sales are still a disproportionately high portion of the overall housing market,” RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said in a statement. “ … while distressed properties are still selling at a significant discount compared to non-distressed properties, average distressed property prices are increasing in many markets thanks to strong demand and limited inventory.”

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