The ever-present real estate plague of foreclosures is lightening up in the region, according to reports in the Kansas City Star, which pulled data from Realty Trac to support its claims that the housing recovery will continue into 2014. In Missouri, home foreclosures fell 39 percent in November compared with the year-earlier level. That amounted to 1,294 properties, or one in every 2,089 homes in the state. In Kansas, foreclosures and default notices are down 68 percent.
So how does the area compare to national numbers? Nationally, homes facing foreclosure actions fell 37 percent from a year ago, to 113,454 properties, RealtyTrac said. States with the highest foreclosure rates were Florida, Delaware, Maryland, South Carolina and Illinois. The Kansas City local movers have found that another strength in the area is the process of rehabbing troubled properties, bringing the overall market to a stronger place.