Foreclosures

A recent tribune article reports foreclosed properties are up from 2006 for La Crosse county.

Home foreclosures in La Crosse County this year are up by nearly a third over the pace in 2006, mirroring a statewide rise of nearly two-thirds.

Fifty-two La Crosse County properties have been foreclosed on through July of this year, with another 17 scheduled for foreclosure. That’s well ahead of the 40 foreclosures at this time last year, according to the La Crosse County Sheriff’s Department.

Of the 52 completed foreclosures in La Crosse County so far this year, 28 were in La Crosse, 10 in Onalaska, six in Holmen, five in West Salem, two in Bangor and one in Coon Valley.

Foreclosures statewide are up 63 percent this year to 5,925, compared with 3,627 filings in the first half of 2006.

Nationally, foreclosures are up 56 percent, according to a report by RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

By my calculation there were 127 filed from 1/1/2007 to 7/31/2007 whereas there were 114 filed from 1/1/2006 to 7/31/2006, an increase of about 10%.

The difference could be merely definitional. The article cites data from the county sheriff and discusses foreclosed properties whereas I'm using court filings.

The chart below depicts foreclosures in the Wisconsin counties of the 7 Rivers region (Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Trempealeau, and Vernon). The data for the remaining part of 2007 is estimated, but we appear to be on the same pace as last year. Thus making this year relatively unremarkable compared to last, which is when we saw the large spike. Hopefully that means we are through the worst of it.