There were just 204 foreclosure cases filed in Boone, Ogle and Winnebago counties in July, the lowest July total since 2007.
It marked the sixth straight month that foreclosure filings were down year over year. It was the fifth straight month the filings were more than 20 percent lower than the prior year.
The biggest decline came in Boone County where the 31 filings were the fewest for any month since August 2009.
The continuing decline of new foreclosure cases is good news for the beleaguered real estate market. The massive backlog of distressed houses on the market continues to hold down prices, which holds down values, which keeps many owners unable to borrow money to invest in improvements.
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How about daring to show us just the foreclosures in the city of Rockford?
Actually, we run a chart every quarter showing the bank-owned property sales by zip code.