Foreclosure filings in Evanston increased 34 percent in the first quarter this year compared to the same period of 2008.
Foreclosure filings in Evanston increased 34 percent in the first quarter this year compared to the same period of 2008.
The increase here was slightly less than the 36 percent increase shown for the six-county metro region.
A report from the Woodstock Institute says 83 properties went into foreclosure here in January through March this year compared to 62 a year ago.
For 2008 as a whole, 267 properties went into foreclosure in Evanston.
With roughly 20,000 residential properties in the city, that means about 1.3 percent of the properties in town were in the foreclosure process at some point in 2008.
The foreclosure problem is also hitting other nearby suburbs.
In Skokie, which has about 13 percent fewer residents than Evanston, foreclosures in the first quarter more than doubled to 118 from 55 in the same period a year ago. For all of last year Skokie had 346 properties in foreclosure.
Wilmette, with a population just a third that of Evanston, saw foreclosure filings grow from 6 in the first quarter of 2008 to 21 in this year’s first quarter, an increase of 250 percent.
And Glenview, with a population about 60 percent of Evanston’s had 34 filings in the first quarter of 2008 and 43 in this year’s first quarter, an increase of 26.5 percent.
On average, the Woodstock Institute says, suburbs in Northern Cook County showed a 67 percent increase in foreclosures in the first quarter, compared to a 40 percent increase for the county as a whole, and a 39 percent increase in Chicago.
A full list of foreclosures by community and Chicago neighborhood is available online.
Evanston Foreclosures
As a community volunteer on the City’s Housing Commission, I’m responding at the suggestion of another Commissioner to point out the City’s pro-active stance on foreclosure assistance (information can be found on the City’s home page, http://www.cityofevanston.org). The foreclosure phemonenon is real and severe, and the Commission supports not only aiding homeowners in keeping their homes, but also acquiring foreclosed homes for resale to workforce families, thereby putting the homes back on the tax rolls and eliminating residential units that could be prey to vandalism, squatters, etc. The City, as well as local community housing development organizations such as the Citizens’ Lighthouse Community Land Trust, is applying for government “Neighborhood Stabilization Funds” that are aimed at positively addressing the issue of foreclosure. This isn’t just a statistic, it’s a serious community problem–but there are efforts underway by many concerned citizens to help address it.