The number of completed foreclosures in Cook County rose during the first quarter of the year by 10.5 percent from the previous quarter, according to a new report by the Woodstock Institute. The report's authors speculate that the rise is due, in part, to the resumption of foreclosures after a stay on dispossessions was ordered due to the robo-signing scandal.

Nonetheless, foreclosures in Cook County last quarter increased by 7.2 percent when compared the first quarter of 2010. Suburban Cook County saw increases throughout the area with North Cook seeing the biggest jump, while Northwest Cook saw the smallest. In the city, newly-filed foreclosures only increased one percent last quarter compared to the same time last year. Archer Heights, Lakeview, North Center, and the East Side community saw the largest increase in foreclosures. Irving Park, Auburn Gresham, and Rogers Park saw the largest decreases in newly-filed foreclosures amongst Chicago's communities.