For the third consecutive year, foreclosure filings have declined 2.2 percent in southeastern Wisconsin in seven counties, including Milwaukee and Kenosha, to 10,475 in 2012. Although foreclosures are declining, their drag on the economy is very strong— short sales make up 23 percent of all homes sold in the seven county area. Home value appreciation can be hampered by foreclosed sales that are included when neighborhood appraisals are being done. As JSOnline tells MHProNews, through Nov. the median sale price of a home fell 0.7 percent from a year ago, to $142,000. Mike Ruzicka, president of the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors, states, “2012 was kind of a healing year, and it looks like 2013 is going to be continuing on the same trajectory – a very slow but methodical pace forward.”
